HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — What would you do at 25 and seemingly at the top of your game?

Would you want to be the man and lead your team to a title? Or would the title itself be most important, no matter how you go it?

LeBron James had a decision to make and he chose the latter, joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in the prime of his career to chase his first title.

League elders and legends weighed in on the decisions made by James and other members of the celebrated free agent class of 2010, and it’s clear they would have handled things differently.

NBA TV’s Chris Webber:

“I’m never mentioning him and (Michael) Jordan in the same sentence ever again. There is no more discussion; Kobe (Bryant) is the last heir to Jordan. I think LeBron is starting a new era of basketball that is not led by a dominate two guard. Magic (Johnson) and Michael Cooper, Magic and Byron Scott, it’s not that type of thing. I mean who would be MVP if they (LeBron James and Dwyane Wade) both average 18 points?”

NBA on TNT analyst Reggie Miller:

“I’m on both sides of the fence here. You are speaking to a guy that spent 18 years for one organization. I would have loved to see LeBron James stay in a small market. Not everyone can play for a New York (Knicks), Chicago (Bulls) or Miami (Heat). When you have a true superstar playing for a small market, it means so much. When you play in a small market, fans live and die by everything you do. To me, him going down to Miami and jumping on the bandwagon of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh that’s great, that is going to be good basketball to see. But personally I would love to have seen him win a championship and stay in Cleveland.”

… “He is the best player in the league, can we put him now in the same category of Michael Jordan, who never left Chicago, Larry Bird, who never left Boston or Magic Johnson who has four or five rings in the same breath – no. If he would have stayed in Cleveland and won one championship built around him we would have put him on Mt. Rushmore. It’s great, I get it. I can’t wait to call games in Miami and watch these three play. But now you are going into a situation where Dwyane Wade already has one championship. He is the Derek Jeter down there. LeBron is the Alex Rodriguez. It is still Dwyane’s team. Between LeBron James and Dwyane Wade one of those guys has to sacrifice and to me it will have to be LeBron James because it is Dwyane Wade’s team.”

NBA on TNT Analyst Charles Barkley:

“The Miami Heat are in a great situation right now, they have three great players. I was disappointed, I wanted Lebron to stay in Cleveland. I don’t blame the guy but I think it will be a lot more important and significant to win a championship in Cleveland then it would be in Miami (if he wins it.)”

… “In fairness, if I was 25 I would try to win it by myself. I would make sure that I was the guy on the team. We just started giving Kobe Bryant credit the last two years. That was that stigma that he couldn’t win it without Shaquille O’Neal and you see we have elevated him because he has won the last two without him. LeBron (James) will never be the guy. I wish he would have tried to win it by himself as ‘the guy’.”

NBA TV analyst Kevin McHale:

“It was too much. It ends up being an hour special and it just seemed to drag on. It had the feel of a reality show to me. I understand it is a big decision and sports are big in the United Sates but it seemed to go on and on. I think they had a plan to make it big and fun and instead it was big and cumbersome. LeBron didn’t look very comfortable making that decision tonight.”

… “It surprised me a little bit. I just thought he was going to Chicago (Bulls) with (Carlos) Boozer, Derrick Rose, (Joakim) Noah; I kind of thought that would be a place for him. Then again, I thought he was going to stay in Cleveland. I thought it was going to be hard for him to leave.”

You Jordan nut huggers need to wake up. The guy shot 5 for 19 (26%) in the closeout game against the Sonics in 1996. He shot 3 for 18 (17%) in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks. And he didn’t have a broken finger on his shooting hand. He also came back in 1995 to a team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals without him (and should have gone to the NBA Finals were it not for the worst call in NBA history on Scottie Pippen – check it out on YouTube, you’ll see what I mean). You think Kobe’s Lakers would make it that far without him? Hell no. The Lakers sans Kobe would’ve gotten knocked out in the first round against the Thunder. So again, do not make Jordan up to be this perfect player. Kobe is right up there with him. I’m a Warriors fan and grew up hating Kobe, but I’m trying to be objective. He’s amazing and already top 5 all time with a chance to rise even higher. The guy’s drive to be the best is out of this world.

And Lebron James – that guy has NO chance to be anywhere near Jordan or Kobe. Jordan and Kobe were/are inifinitely more graceful and fun to watch on the court because they wanted to be the best more than anything in the world. Lebron is an amazing talent, yes, but that’s where it ends. He had a chance to be a legendary player had he stayed with Cleveland and continued to climb the mountain. But he took the easy route and joined his buddies in South Beach, and that’s where his legend died. Now he’s just another very good player in the NBA.

I read alot of interesting comments on here. Alot of “emotional” responses, but not too many facts. I say this: (and being from North Carolina I have a great understanding of this thing called basketball, cuz the best come from here lol) #1 NOBODY SHOULD COMPARE ANYONE TO MICHAEL JORDAN, PERIOD!!!!! NOT KOBE, LBJ, WADE, NO ONE!!! leave his name out of this, he has nothing to do with this. Why cant Kobe just be Kobe? I mean Jordan might be the clear-cut best ever, but its not like there isnt a Dr. J, Magic, Bird, Chaimberlain, Oscar etc… Why does everyone trying to compare him to Jordan? cause he has 5? Robert Horry has 7, he isnt being compared. i dont care if Kobe wins 8, he still wont be better. (maybe some Carolina bias, i know lol)
#2 If lebron went to the Bulls, Knicks, Nets or Clippers, it wouldnt be as much disscusion. I dont want to hear about fairness of competition when all you have to do is take a look at the Lakers rosters of the 80’s or late 60’s But simply because he went to a team with Dwade, all of a sudden he took the “easy way out”?? Your moral compass has to really be messed up to believe that being “the guy” is better than laying down your ego to share the glory. I get what Barkley was saying, but look at his career. Thats the same dumb mistake he made. So yeah, he’s the “guy” with all those taco bell commercials, but no rings.

This is a classic example of people being afraid of something new.

#3 This happens in sports all the time, A-ROD to the Yankees. Tell me they havent had some of the most STACKED ROSTERS IN ALL OF SPORTS HISTORY and yet we dont complain. Anyone remember Wilt joining Baylor and West on the Lakers? (can’t get much better than 3 out of the all-time best 10). Moses Malone left after a MVP season to join Dr. J, and they won a title the next year. Did the Patriots really need Randy Moss? Do pickles really taste better cucumber? (lol)
#4 Every championship team for the last 3 decades have all had at least 2 allstars/superstars. Lebron never had a legit allstar in Cleveland. Plus they could have added Amare last year, but no, they get ol washed up Jaimison. And yall act like he had a young Shaq or even the one from Miami. I remember seeing Malone, Payton, Kobe, and Shaq on the same court. That team wasnt loadeed was it? Do you think for a minute that Carmelo wouldnt go to LA? What would yall say then. Nothing. Like when LA had Kareem, Magic, AND Worthy. Yall (the haters) are acting like Miami is the most stacked team ever.. it really isnt. Speaking of Malone, you know he is 2nd all-time career leading scorer, even in front of MJ himself, but who says that? Not a soul, BECAUSE GREATNESS IS MEASURED BY CHAMPIONSHIPS NOT STATS!! The same people talking ish about LB leaving are the same ones who would clown him if he never won one. If he keeps the same scoring average pace he has been on, he would be the league all time leading scorer by age 36 (FACT). But i guess that wont happen now since he has to share…
Last but not least #5… HE WAS A FREE AGENT!!!!!! For the slow people of the world, this means he fulfilled his contract, and he could go elsewhere. KG was in Minnesota for 3 more years than LBJ stayed in Cleveland. He still bounced to do what????????? WIN A RING. He wasnt hated on at all. They were just older. I think Wade and Lebron broke some unspoken rule, “under 30, and you cant team up with another future legend, its just not fair” If lebron isnt great, then why is this the most talked about free agent move ever? There has never been some1 of his calibur on the free agent market. Jordan’s contract was extended throughout his career, so was Kobe’s. Who in this room would turn down the chance to play with 2 good friends on the same team? Live in miami? Not paying 1.5 mil a year in taxes on money that is already being taxed? (Lebron is smart for moving to Florida as far as taxes and money goes.)

Can we just let the man play the sport he loves wherever he feels like playing? dang, is it that serious? its STILL A BUNCH OF MILLIONAIRES MAKING MORE MILLIONS OFF OF US TO PLAY A GAME!!!

This union in Miami will be one of the biggest things to ever happens in american sports. MARK MY WORD.

P.S. On a different note right quick…. Can we please stop calling NYC the “mecca of basketball”???? Anyone with half a brain would know that North Carolina is the TRUE MECCA. Duke, Carolina. The best players filter through this state at one point in their careers, and if u disagree, 1 name…. (see below)
Michael Jordan

Oh and on LeBron’s 1 hour special, ridiculous as it was, it was great for the NBA. It created so much buzz and publicity for the NBA. Think about it, it’s July and we are acting as if it’s mid season. I can’t count how many of my friends, girls expecially, who don’t usually watch basketball, who are now going crazy trying to get tickets and vowing to watch every game. LOL. It made Lebron seem like a tool but it was the best thing for the NBA.

It’s funny how everyone says Lebron is selfish for leaving Cleveland. That makes no sense. It shows that he isn’t selfish. If he were he would do exactly what Barkley, Malone and Miller did – try to win it by themselves, to be “the man”. I think that is true selfishness and the comments here all indicate this theme in sports of everyone trying to be “the man”, as if it’s the way to go. Basketball is a team sport. It’s not about the individual. No one wins championships by themselves, not even Jordan. Barkley and the rest were selfish and that’s why they got nothing. Even if Kobe never got a ring after Shaq he would go down in history as a player with 3 rings and Barkley zero. At least LeBron is learning from their stupid and selfish, greed and putting his ego aside to be apart of something great. When Jordan was going crazing, destroying teams, other great players should have teamed up to present a suitable challenge to him. How great would it have been to see Jordan beat a dream team of superstars. Well now we can see that in the Kobe era. Thank you LeBron.

Lebron deciding to go to Miami is his own right, no question about it.

What is sickening to ‘The Decision’ is that, they just killed THE SPIRIT OF COMPETITION in their generation. Magic had Bird, Isiah primarily as adversaries. Michael Jordan had Olajuwon, Barkley, Drexler, Stockton/Malone and Ewing as competitors to slug it out night-in, night out. Kobe has Pierce, Duncan, and Nash to duel with to earn respect.

Now, Lebron, D-Wade and C-Bosh don’t want any of these. Instead of fighting it out to see who is The Man of their generation, they collectively decided to join forces and bully everyone and collect multiple rings. To me, that killed the excitement of watching competitive sports. What has gotten into their heads??? This generation of athletes has become too spoiled by money, lavish attention, that they forgot the very essence why they got into sports in the first place – COMPETITION..!! Forgotten this word?

some of you guys make sense some of you don’t kobe had help true but his help wasnt dwayne wade status i agree i don’t blame lebron for leaving i don’t agree with the way he left he picked what was best for him i thought chicago would have been better. yes he took the coward way out by piggy backin off dwade. chris bosh is overrated and he knows it he good but he isnt great come on he couldnt even take his team to the playoffs and d-rose did as a rookie and sophmore. as laker fan i dont like the move but im still not worried. as a basketball fan i don’t see it being that good now its kinda dumb to have argubly the 2 and 3 best players in the nba on the same team. MJ did have scottie but they werent dwade stautus so come on and its weird how all season lebron is the best player with the best team with the best bench with the coach and with the best record 2years in a row but when he left he didnt have any help he didnt have a good team blah blah blah if he was the superstar they sad he was they would have atleast made it to the finals to loose to the lakers 😉 long story short cant wait to the season start so that the lakers can do what they do best and win and the rest of the league try to catch them lol

and if fisher leaves LA im making a FISHER LIED SHIRT cus why would he go to miami or any other city besides new york when the doctor said the best doctors for his daughter was in LA and NY and idk why he want 5 mil $

Theres one thing people arent addressing. When Kobe demanded a trade, it was because he wanted to win. LA talked him down, and he went back to the team BEFORE the Gasol trade was made. LA also were the #1 seed in the west BEFORE Gasol arrived. Gasol avgd 18 and 9 hie entire career before joining LA. He was an all star ONCE,

Now Lebron Got Jamison. The CAVS were the #1 seed in the east when the CAVS got Jamison. He also was an all star ONCE before joining the CAVS. Jamison avgd 19 and 8 his entire career before Joining CLE.

Kobe takes Gasol,soft defense, weak in the paint, and immediately goes to the finals. Then wins 2 more titles after that. The roster is basically the same from the 05 team who sucked minus getting Gasol and returning Fisher.

Lebron takes Jamison, and loses in the 2nd round of the playoffs, along with shaq and Mo williams as help.

I’ll just point out a few things here.. It’s unbearable to hear Lebron took the easy way out.. He is not going to have to play any less or utilize any less effort… actually now they will have to make sure they are all at their very best because every team in the NBA will be out to show that the Heat having this trio means nothing. Every star needs help and Dwayne wanted help to get past the 1st round and he got that help.. The one who asked for this help all along was Wade people!!! Now I don’t believe any player should ever be compared to anyone else I believe every player writes their own history, their own glory, their own legacy. Now if Lebron’s legacy eventually goes down as they key for Miami to join the ranks of teams multiple championships like Celtics or Lakers then I believe in the end it’s all worth it. Why worry of the individual accolades when you can build a mountain worth of Legacy as a team. Another thing that’s sickening is this whole thing of he should have done it himself I understand that certain players like MJ or LB never left their respective teams but none of those men did it themselves. Mike had Scottie, Kukoc, Grant and many more who are ALL STAR class players Bird had an amazing cast of ALL STAR players the only difference with his scenario is that it will be the 1st time you’ll ever see the current #1 best player in the NBA alongside the current #3 best player in the NBA but regardless they will still just be 2 players on the court striving to get that ring. All I know is we will be able to see great basketball come out of these guys and we will see talents from them we have yet to have WITNESSED before. NBA truly is where AMAZING HAPPENS because this will with out a doubt be AMAZING to see. I’m sure many of these Legends weighing in on this issue would have taken this opportunity in a heartbeat being in Lebron’s shoes. No matter what they say… just like Kobe he went 7 yrs without a championship and was ready to leave until his demands were met and he got the help he needed… now even though Cleveland had a solid 60plus wins team it all depended on Lebron in the end and he had no significant role players to come through when he couldn’t like Kobe has Fisher, Gasol, now even somehow Artest. Now he has those role players and Wade has those role players point blank. It will be an awesome season to watch and see the outcome of this whole mess…

I think if Pat Riley wants a dynasty out of the Celtics, they should get a good centre and point guard.
If Chris Paul and Dwight Howard’s contract expires they should join the Heat.
John Wall should join the Heat.

Obviously, I wish that after KG retires, DeMarcus Cousins or Derrick Favours should go and join the Celtics.
Also, Evan Turner should join the Celtics.

Championships start out from a great Franchise and organisation.

The Celtics, Lakers are the two greatest organizations in basketball with LA being the richest out of all, but thanks to Red C’s have more championships even when we did awful for 20 years.

Lakers have always been a very good organisation. LeBron left Cavs, because Heat not only had Wade and Bosh, but also Pat Riley (one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport). Also, it is a great city, a franchise in the making.

I think if a player wants to win championships they should go to a good organization Lakers and Celtics are the teams they should go to.

I the Heat and the Celtics are going to rule the NBA in the next few years.

Heat have everything, the organisation, the great GM, coach and the players to become the next dynasty.

Kobe is one of the greatest seriously no doubt about it . Lakers in a great team. But we have to consider Celtics too. they are not a bad team either. With KG Allen and d Truth still one of the best…But Miami’s Dwade LBJ CBosh , what’s wrong with that? they all follow the process. at least waiting for Free agent. Do u think forming this trio will instantly win a Ring? I guess not, Don’t forget that they give a lot of pressure on themselves just saying they will win a championship in Miami. Other teams fired up just to beat them. I don’t believe in the word “Power Shift in South Beach” co’z they are all humans after all. they will start from d scratch like anybodyelse, And they will be playing all the teams in NBA. And if they reach to the top a win the ring. Then they earned it. Don’t compare MJ to KOBE or Lebron to MJ or Kobe co’z they are not. Each of them have individual style,strength and ERA of playing and they could never be the same so why comparing them? Like the game before when MJ and Kobe play together. Commentators said “The present and the future greats” just like happening now. Just wait until NBA season start, Just watch what will happen. I just wanna Congratulate the Lakers and Kobe for winning the TITLE to the Celtics Big3 and to MIAMI from making these 3 come together. Hard Battles ahead this season. Not a Hater but a NBA FAN only.

does anyone think that jordan during 88,89,90 would have thought about leaving chicago to join detroit because he just couldnt get past them. do you think he would have worried about not being good enough to beat them. I DONT. Lebron got scared when Bosh signed with Wade and Miami and thought to himself I wont be able to beat these guys so im gonna join them. he took the easy way out. Jordan is the best and always thought of himself as the best and always thought im gonna smash these pistons next year never gave up and eventually did it. you have to work for championships not try to run from a challenge and join what looks to be your biggest challenge. Lebron will now be the A-Rod of basketball and will never be considered one the all time greats and its sad to see.

I agree with all the Hall-of-Famers and Chris Webber. Lebron James legacy is shot. He was a great player and now he is just good. He went from being close to MJ to Scottie Pippen. I understand why the whole of Cleveland is upset. Its not because he “abandon” them. Its because of that 60 minute special and how he broke the news. He knew he was coming so he should have said so in advance. Not to shoot down Cleveland(the city) hopes and dreams on national T.V. And we need to stop saying that the Cavs was not a good team. They were good enough to be Best team in the league twice in a row, a Finals appearance, two Eastern Conference Finals appearance, and a Semi-Finals exit. They traded and sign a variety of players so don’t say they never gave him a good team. They brought in players like Larry Hughes, Shaq, Flip Murray, Antwan Jamison, Eric Snow, and many others. But because of the lack of Offensive sets by Coach Mike Brown, lack of Shooters and lack of trust in players by Coach Brown, Cavs always lose. And its not easy playing Lebron because he dominates the ball more than any player(only Iverson in his prime did it more) But another we’re not considering is Miami only has 20 million to sign 11 million..What kind of team they are going to get with that? They might be signing everybody in chatroom to play LOL. And also the low success rate of Superstar trios or more like Run T-M-C Tim, Mitch, Chris from Golden State, Carter, Kidd, Jefferson in New Jersey, Lewis, Howard, Carter in Orlando, Barkley, Olajuwon, Drexler in Houston, Pippen, Wallace, Brian Grant, Steve Smith in Portland, etc etc.. So its be hard and if they can get 11 players at the minimum they not going to be for long-term contracts. So its a big risk and it will take a lot to get it done. The talk is about Lebron making sacrifice. Do you guys know by Nba contract money Zydranus Ilgalskus made more money than Michael Jordan. I know its unbelievable but its true and he came from the time period where the most money was offered. He gave up money so that good players can come to Chicago. Now that’s sacrifice. Lebron was saying it takes 3 stars to win championship. It may be true to some effect but really it takes a great supportive cast to win. Detroit in 04 proves Lebron’s theory wrong. Cleveland was close; all they needed to get was one good star/supportive player and they would have had a good chance to win next season. Lebron was not patient and couldn’t see that the Cavs were trying. The Greatest(MJ) didn’t win his first championship until his 7th season. He went through more adversity than Lebron. But Mj was patient and he worked hard each off-season and became a better teammate to his team. But back to Lebron, he can no longer be in the same conversation as MJ or Kobe. So while Lebron Legacy takes a dive, Wade legacy increases…Depending on how he plays with the new team he might be propel into the MJ and Kobe debate because its his team and he will be the top player. I guess we’ll find out how it all comes out in the coming years.

LBJ’s decision in joining miami is just a big mistake…. its just like a Denver nuggets where they got Ai together with Melo.. nothing happened.. both dwade and LBJ are the go to guy… in the end both of this guys will want to get the ball and take the shot… better give them 2 balls if that happens…. by the way… i agree with sir charles barkley when i was watching his comment in NBA TV… he will never be that guy anymore.. he cannot be compared anymore to the likes of JORDAN, BRYANT, DUNCAN, BIRD, MAGIC JOHNSON, RUSSEL, and WEST… well…in my opinion how bout the BOSTON big 3.. what can we say about KG, Ray Allen?…. that makes the difference.. you see KG and Ray Allen was playing for a bad team prior to their trade.. both Minnesota and Seattle didn’t made it to the playoffs… and they were already at their 30’s and never won a ring… they signed in boston and fortunately got one… at their age KG have proven everything in the league.. his leadership, his unselfishness and heart for MIN. its just unfortunate tha MIN has not given KG enough supporting cast to give him a ring and he is already 30 plus of age and thats the reason he left… and the only missing thing for KG is a ring…. for LBJ… its not that you are playing for a bad team… for the past 3 years your team were the beast in the east…. you’re only 25 and could have given CLE at least 3 more years before you made your move to leave, you had a complete line up.. their were only small thing that had to be adjusted to get what you want.. might as well given byron scott a chance to coach you cause one thing for sure.. byron is a great coach…. now if your talking about rings.. you will have one (if it does)… you can have 3 or 4 rings with miami.. but men.. your legacy of greatness will never be the same again… im not a CLE fan or and LBJ fan but to define greatness… you got to be the man…. you got to make your legacy on your own.. MJ won his first title with a lot of failures frustrations before that….. Jerry West got his rings but not before he lost a lot with the C’s, kobe prove to LA that he can do it without Shaq but not after failing in 6 years…THATS HOW YOU DEFINE GREATNESS!!!! i believe that LBJ was in a hurry, it was a premature decision… he didnt think it over… just because BOSH went to Miami and so he did…. for next season… i pray for the LIKES of DIRK NOWITZKI to win one ring they deserve it..thay didnt turn down on their teams… james should have stayed in Cleveland and im sure he can give them one or two at his very young age…….by the way LBJ cannot give something new for MIAMI next season… remember DWADE gave the a championship already..

Ok! I’m finally sick and tired of everything talking this and that about LeBron James. Now I’m a Miami Heat fan and I’m protecting my new boy. But I honestly hate all the backstabbers in Cleveland including the Cav’s Owner. What a punk! When James was there, he did everything in his power to please James. Now that James isn’t in a Cav’s uniform, He wants to go all bananas and hate on Lebron. LeBron is the reason why the Cav’s got put back on the NBA map! Without him, they would be fighting for the #1 pick and not a NBA Championship every year. James poured his heart and soul into that organization and didn’t recieve nothing back expect a early vacation. He never in my mind, gave up on his Cav’s. They just were outplayed and beat. Plain and simple! Everybody keeps saying that the Cav’s have a good team but in all true they really don’t. They were an A team with James and are now a C+ team without him. Majority of the Team is just average players. Their supposed “Big-Time” players were just ok this year. Ok is not going to win you a NBA Championship! The LA Lakers didn’t play OK basketball and win 2!, i repeat 2 championships the past 2 years. The Boston Celtics didn’t play OK basketball and beat Miami, CLEVELAND, and Orlando en route to taking LA to 7 games this year. Yea sure Cleveland had a team to win it all but that was yesterday. They put together a good squad but they didn’t click or turn it on when they most needed it! Shaq is well past his prime and spends more time watching the game than playing. Jamison is over-rated in my eyes. And the rest don’t really contribute much to help. Yes they had a 2-1 lead over Boston but couldn’t finsih them off. They were leading the series last year against Orlando but they blew that too! Overall I think Cleveland were to overrated during the regular season and were under-achievers in the playoffs. In the end, IDK if James ever made it to the Finals. He might have so ya’ll can correct me, but i really don’t remember! Now lets move to talking about his decision about playing in Miami. First off, I knew it was going to happen just like ever other Heat fan. But this is a one-in-a-lifetime oppurtunity for LeBron James and he took it. Hats off to Him, honestly! He needs it, he worked his ass off in Cleveland and didn’t get nothing. Now he can bring his hard working mentality to Miami and win. With Wade and Bosh, Miami have a younger and more improved version of the Boston Big 3. And i remember nobody threw a fit when that team was put together. So why throw a hissy fit when James, Wade, and Bosh link up? I think people, cough cough Cleveland, Chicago, New York and all the other losers, are extremely jealous of Miami. That’s ok because they just use this hate and turn it into fuel. The fuel for their dedication and hard work. Riley will fill up the remaining spots with good, quality veterns who want to win and get a ring before they walk away. Just like they did in 2006. People now can do all the talking they want but when it comes down to playing, we’ll see who really is the best. Now another topic that makes me mad and is not fair that people are talking about is the fact that Lebron’s legacy is tarnished by him doing this. How? That’s my question! Now he can go to a team that has won a title recently and not 40 years ago! Miami was a great change of scenery for James. Staying with your original team is not always a good thing, just ask Dan Marino and the others. In Miami, i know people call it Wade’s town but who cares. I think LeBron comes in and becomes the face, Wade his trusty sidekick, and Bosh the big man. That would be fine with all them as along as they win, which they will. People keep saying that his can never be better than Jordan now, How? I just don’t understand. No disrespect to MJ, nobody can ever surpass MJ in my eyes. Why do people have to measure LBJ to MJ? I don’t see people comparing Kobe and Mj, even though Kobe has one more ring to go before he’s tied with MJ! Why can’t we let LBJ be LBJ. Let him write his own legacy, and not follow someone eles legacy. And they keep saying that Kobe has finally won it all without Shaq, he’s won 2! But look at his team, talk about an all-star team. They have Kobe, Gasol, Bynum, Artest, Fisher, and Odom, plus there good bench. Now wonder why they won. Kobe had a great supporting cast around him just like LBJ has now. Kobe didn’t win the titles by himself, he won them with his team. Without them, there would be no 2-time champ in LA. Todays NBA game is won by a team not by a individual. Look at the last 10 winners, they all had great teams that played well, they each had their main player but you really don’t see that in the books. It says the teams name not the players name. Same can be said of the Bulls to a extent. MJ had a great supporting cast around him in Chicago. Without them MJ would have not won 6 rings! Look at his time in Washington and i know he was past his prime but still. The Lakers and Bulls are not called Kobe Lakers or Michael Bulls because basketball is a team sport and not a individaul sport last time i checked. So people need to lay off LBJ. I can’t wait to see the Three Kings dominate the NBA and win some rings so I can laugh in your face. LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade will create a legacy never seen in the NBA. If they win multiple rings that will satisfy them all. So LeBron shouldn’t worry about trying to be MJ. He should just go out there and be LeBron James. That’s all Kobe and MJ did. Best of Luck to the Miami Heat and the rest of the NBA.

i think Kevin Garnett’s comments about wanting a ring sooner, and wishing he’d left the Wolves earlier then he did affected LeBron… i completely agree with Reggie Miller saying that 3 or 4 rings in Miami is the same as 1 in Cleveland.
I have no problems with great players chasing rings at the end of their careers like Malone did, he gave Utah so many great seasons and came up short due to Jordan’s greatness. But to do it so early in your career, especially after the team has invested so much in you and getting you the team that should be able to take care of business is just plain soft.

the three (bosh, james, wade) could gel allright. Anyway, the deal is already done. James can help fortify Miami’s defense. Bosh is a good perimeter shooter so that would draw the bigs out. for dwade. A trade of beasley for a center and a guard can improve miami’s chemistry. That works well for beasley too who could shine better with other teams…perhaps going west.

why do people hatin on lebron? did the timberwolves hated KG when he left for boston? its all about winning in the sport. people should also stop saying kobe did it all by “HIMSELF” cause like others say, he couldn’t do it without gasol, bynum, fisher, and others. its all about being a team. miami is a team, and has 3 superstars, and they want to win. whats wrong about that???

I think Lebron is unfairly getting f****d on here, he was willing to take less money AND tarnish his name and reputation in order to win a championship. Of course he knew the reprucussions of his decision. Its his life and hes gotta do whats right for him, not whats right for a bunch of **** , disrespectful cleveland fans. I do think he could of handled the situation better, not stringing on 5 teams but no1 was comlaining be4. Just now that everyone has missed out on getting one of the best players they are all angry. Why would he wait till hes all washed up to change teams like those other greats to change teams in a last ditch effort for a championship? how many of them succeeded? his chances are alot better doing it in his PRIME with 2 other great players. I think its admirable he is able to inhibit his own personal potential and stats in order to win

I totally agree with Sir Charles, Reggie and Chris Webber. And especially Reggie’s statement when he said that winning one as “the guy” would weight so much more than winning a couple with the other 2 stars. And personally I think Miami would be so much a better and balance team if only Wade and Bosh is on board, packed with some good (as in real good) supporting cast like Shaq and Raymond Felton.

I don’ t believe Kobe is better than Lebron because he had more help and a easier road to the finals. The first three titles Kobe has came with another great player and role players, the fourth title came because Kevin Garnett was injured, and the fifth title came because of Ron Artest. Lebron James never had another star along side him in Cleavend and had a tougher road in the playoffs, The Lakers didn’t have to face the Nuggets or Dallas, maybe both because of a coaching problem this year. Every year even when Lebron James made it to the finals, he had to face Detroit, Boston, or Orlando and even if he did make to the finals, he would probably have no energy left. I also believe if Kobe Bryant was in Cleavend instead of Lebron, he couldn’t win a championship and probably would have even never made it there. If Kobe Bryant was so great, how can you explain Oneal, Bryant, Malone, and Payton on the same team not winning a championship?

Dam Justin that just goes to show you what even the pro’s think of your mannn he is a quiter face it mannn how can you be the greatest and not be the team super star haha he had to carpool to a maybe title or for a fantasy night in miami but don’t crown the jester cause that’s what people think of him after his 1 hr long show leclown James who had everything until the clock struck 12am and I dont like the cavs but you know what I will start rooting for them since they play in the east and yeah man I will be celebrating next season when Kobe puts Lebron on the unemployment line again Lakers 3peat ohh and he did have a reason to quit after all who would stay with a team who only won 61 games last season and 66 the year before yeap got to jump of this train the engine is dead cause I’m a winner and I don’t shake hands when i get spanked (Orlando Magic) but do dance at the free throw line when we are winning (Chicago bulls ) true class and we say Kobe is arrogant haha he would never have put us thru this after all only some one who believes we owe him would Leclown James the best player in the world to win nothing ok 2 mvp’s

lebron should’ve stayed. LBJ is too good to be a part of a trio, more importantly, be a part of a trio that is originally a team of someone else. if he had to change teams, NY would’ve been the best place, since he can start out fresh, be considered the leader, and the knicks be called his team. I’m very disappointed. If i’m that good, i’d never do that. I really lost so much respect for LBJ. I’m going back to being a Dirk and Nash fan.

Don’t blame Lebron. The Cavs didn’t put the right pieces around him. Jordan is the greatest but he did have Pippen one of the 50 greastest players. Look at Garnett he stayed in Minn, all those years loyal to the Timberwolves they put pieces around him just never the right pieces ala the Cavs as soon as he leaves and goes to Boston and wins a ring. The only difference between Boston and the Heat’s big 3 is age. So give Lebron a break

I don’t agree with alot of these people, Lebron is messing with his legacy by going to Miami. I have always been a Michael Jordan fan. Jordan could have won with out Scottie or Rodman, but they couldn’t win without him. the only one that won without him is Rodman when he was on the piston and he was even the man on that team, Rodman is a follower, like Lebron. Lebron should went to Chicago where he would be the man, he would be more of a man then Noah, and Rose. Don’t get me wrong these two is awesome but James would be better then they would. Chicago don’t need James to be great, the greatest of all time did that, (Michael Jordan). I also thank that all this was plan from the beginning, I thank those three was planning this before the season was over. They was playing with everyone of us from the beginning. Lebron don’t deserve to be called the next Jordan, because Jordan wouldn’t have done what Lebron did in the series with the Magics left the court without shaking their hands, the year when the Magic’s made it the Finals to face Kobe and the Lakers. Jordan got beat up all those games with the Pistons but he still gave them their congrat. for winning. He got his last laugh when they final beat the piston and went on to win the championship, and haven’t look back since. Jordan is somewhere no one is going to get to for a long while, no one in the NBA now could have beated Jordan in his prime or his Bulls, I guarantee it, Jordan would have torn up Kobe, Lebron, Rose, Wade, Bosh, and anyone else who thought they was better then him. And if they did that would just give him a fire to work with.

I have not seen anyone of Jordan skills in today game. Not even Kobe. Bye Bye now

HEY Chucky..Kobe has never won a championship on his own..Had Shaq before and now has Pau,..None of the greats ever won a championship on their own and Lebron going to to Miami so he will get the mutliple rings and will be considered one of the greats of all time with Kobe, Jordan, Wade and so on…

I think its quite blatant, Lebron doesn’t feel huge amount of love to cleveland, but if you come to anyone else and said, Hey you got the chance to play basketball with two other allstars that you have olympic gold with, and you will still probably earn 15 million a season, i know what my answer will be. So i don’t blame him he has quite often said that his main point is to win.

Hey commenters…:) Ok here we go. I am 17 now and fell in love with the nba “7 years ago”(when i was strictly a NFL fan!!!).
7 years ago as you know was the drafting year of KING JAMES, at that moment i watched this guys story and fell in love with the NBA. YES INDEED, LEBRON JAMES IS WHY I WATCH THE NBA, OR BEGAN TO WATCH! But lets skip that part of the relationship. Lets go to a place where Lebron wasnt even heard of…… uhhh, lets go to the 1984-1999 era. See with no knowledge of basketball i kept hearing about a basketball GOD by the name of a MICHAEL JORDAN (i thought the man was a myth.LOL) He indeed is real and has a compelling story…. 1984-90 he was ringless with no help insight he didnt even reach the FINALS…(lets go back to the future, LEBRON WENT TO THE FINALS HIS 3 year in the league.)

I’m not angry with LeBron, just disappointed. After all these years being prepped up as the heir to Jordan, to be the face of the basketball world, instead of embracing that title as the king he chose to be the supporting cast of wade in miami. Instead of being “the chosen one” he is now “the one who chose” the other way around. Those who defends what LBJ just did don’t see the importance of the word “Legacy”. Even though Jordan had Pippen, or Bird had McHale, they were still the main man of the team. And what separates them from James is that they ( Jordan and Bird) made their teammates play better, not just in the regular season, but where it counts most, the playoffs, especially the championships. You can’t say that James didn’t had help in Cleveland. Heck, Mo williams is better than Steve Kerr coz Mo can make his own shots while Kerr is basically just a spot up shooter. Varejao is definitely more of a threat than Rodman; he’s bigger, he has offensive skills and he doesn’t have attitude problems. The point is Jordan brought the best in those guys, which James obviously can’t do. Hate to admit it but that’s actually what kobe is doing in LA (and I’m not a kobe fan), he’s bringing the best out of the players around him. And people can’t say that James had enough trying for 7 years in Cleveland, Jordan didn’t win a championship till ’91. may I remind you that James already brought the cavs in the finals in his sophomore year. My point? He can’t wait for his turn to be a champ. And to those that are saying Miami’s gonna win it next year, guess what? championsips aren’t won by just 3 players. no matter how much talent is in a team, if they don’t know and do their role, it’s all going down the drain.

I know others may have said this already, but in my opinion it was a poor choice. It’s about winning and rings. As good as all three are i dont see them getting one as soon as people think. I think that the Bulls were a better built team than the Heat as far as Lebron goes. The Heat only have six players on contract. The rest of the team are free agents and unsigned draft picks. 4 of the 6 players are starters so there’s no one to play behind them significantly. People tend to forget it takes an ENTIRE team. The coach isnt that experienced either let’s all be honest.

I feel like he’s hiding behind his homies so he no longer has to bear the bulk of not winning, he was too scared to go to Chitown and play in the shadow of Mike, and he was too scared to go to the Clippers(also a better team than most want to realize), because he didnt want to play Kobe on a regular basis. He wants to beat kobe in the finals i guess but they have t get there D. Wade hasnt smelled the finals since ’06 and Bosh hasnt seen the the otehr side of the first round(when he did make the playoffs). He’s scared adn the specticle he made of a simple choice was a very premadonna. The Boys and Girls club getting the proceeds was a cover up because he knows it was some bullsh*t.

I didnt want him to stay in Cleveland but i sure didnt think he’ld go about leaving and make the choice the way he did. I’ve lost respect for him as far as the game is concerned and gained much muhc more for Kevin Durant. Side note:the Heat trying to get D. Fish is also a testament to Kobes greatness…it’ll take all three of you to beat me and on top of that you’re trying to steal my point guard….now i know what people are saying about these childish athletes…smh

As a Heat fan since 1995 I’ve gone thru Heartbreak when The Knicks and Bulls would Beat us. I’ve gone Through Great times in 2006. So I don’t blame the Cavalier fans for feeling how they feel. I don’t blame LBJ for leaving, I don’t like the way he went about it though. Now I feel that if D Wade would have left I’d be feeling Very down as well. But you know The guys said it best in their Press conference. They would have been criticized either way.

If Lebron Stayed, people would say that he did it for the money,
If he went to NY, it would be to make his brand Bigger,
if it was New Jersey, it was to become a world Icon.
If it was the Bulls, He would be In Jordan’s Shadow,

So I don’t Know that he took the easy way out, He said it best, It’s about winning and Winning now, Cleveland was not gonna put guys around him that would draw double teams to take some pressure off him, the best they did was get him an old Shaq and an Antawn jamison that has rarely drawn double teams. So he knew that he’d never in win in Cleveland.

so no matter what he would’ve done, People were getting ready to lash them out,
Now I don’t say that Miami is gonna win a Title in 2011 because we still don’t know who is gonna
be playing along the 3 guys. But it sure will be fun to watch and as a Heat fan I’m looking forward to Great games,
against the Lakers, The Magic and Boston’s Big Three oh and don’t forget the Nuggets when the 3rd pick in the 2003 draft Melo. Tries to bring his best game against his other draft class Members.

For those still taking shots at Kobe. Remember in 2004 when the 25 year old Bryant resigned with the Lakers Shaq was already gone. Phil was gone. Just about every player from those title teams were gone. Yes, they had Lamar Odom and Caron Butler. But that was really it. That was HARDLY a title contending team. Kobe resigned with the Lakers knowing it would be a lot of work becoming contenders again. And yes, he got pissed in 2007. And for those who are not truly up that story it had a lot more to do with him feeling betrayed by someone in the organization. It wasn’t just him lashing out for nothing.

The point is, at 25, Kobe took the challenge of being “the Man” in a situation that was clearly a rebuilding project. Give him credit for not being afraid of doing that. LeBron was not willing to do that in Cleveland. Kobe knew he would be vilified if he never won a title without Shaq. Still he had the stones to take up the challenge as opposed to bolting to a team that was ready made. Plus, he had the pressure of being a franchise player for the Lakers. I’m sorry, but the expectations in Cleveland are nothing compared to that. So Kobe had a lot more to lose by staying in LA had he failed. Still Kobe rolled with it.

Let’s allow LeBron to chart his own course. But the ignorance regarding Kobe Bryant has to stop. It makes some posters look like fools who really don’t understand basketball and the events that have transpired.

money aint the issue with lbj and bosh?? they aint paying taxes down south! at the end of the day, the net value will be the same as getting 2m more from chicago or cleveland.

i dont like kobe but for me, he is a winner, lbj just chickened out, would love to see him win a title while being the man rather than being the backup… no matter how many rings he wins, i aint validating that like i validate kobe’s greatness

if kobe and the lakers meet with the heat in the finals and kobe is able to take the heat down and complete the 3peat, then kobe bryant is the greatest basketball player of all time. jordan never had to face a team like this with 3 superstars all in their prime on the same team. kobe is the greatest basketball player to ever play this game if they take the heat down this year in the finals.

IT’S VERY SAD THAT I HEAR A LOT OF JEALOUSY & BITTERNESS COMING FROM THESE FORMER PLAYERS. HOW DARE CHARKES BARKLEY SAY SOMEONE’S CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE DEMINISHED OR TARNISHED, WHEN YOU COULD MAKE A STRONG ARGUMENT (IF YOU’RE CYNICAL) THAT HE WAS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP WITH HIS TIME IN THE LEAGUE. CHARLES SHOULD KNOW HOW MUCH A STATEMENT LIKE THAT STINGS, BECAUSE IT’S SOMETHING HE HAS TO LIVE WITH EVERYDAY, SO WHY WOULD HE WANT SOMEONE TO HAVE TO ENDURE THAT SAME PAIN FOR A LIFE TIME? IF LEBRON WOULD HAVE STAYED IN CLEVELAND & NEVER WOULD WON A CHAMPIOSHIP, CHARLES WOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A PASS (ATLEAST I HOPE HE WOULD HAVE), BECAUSE HE IS WALKING IN THOSE SHOES NOW & HE KNOWS HOW IT FEELS, BUT THE REST OF THE WORLD WOULDN’T HAVE. I GUESS MISERY DOES ENJOY COMPANY AFTER ALL.

BARKLEY, REGGIE MILLER, & CHRIS WEBBER ALL SHOULD KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE NBA. THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT NO TEAM IN THE NBA IS GOING TO JUST BOW DOWN TO THE “3 KINGS”. THEY SHOULD KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING YOU HAVE TEAMMATES WHO ARE AS DEDICATED, AND HUNGRY AS YOU ARE TO WIN. IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE THEY WISH HE HAD STAYED IN CLEVELAND SO THAT HE COULD HAVE THE SAME FATE THAT THEY DID, (A GREAT CAREER, BUT NO RING.) AND THAT’S NOT RIGHT. I PROMISE YOU IT STILL HURTS THEM THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE A RING, SO WHY WOULLD THEY KNOCK SOMEONE FOR DOING SOMETHING THEY SHOULD HAVE DID?

I NEVER WOULD HAVE IMAGINED HEARING THIS TYPE OF BITTERNESS & JEALOUSY COMING FROM CHARLES, WEBBER, & MILLER TIME. THIS IS NOT A KNOCK ON ANY OF THEM, BUT LEBRON IS A BETTER PLAYER THAN ALL OF THEM, AND ON TOP OF THAT HE IS A WISER PERSON (AT LEAST @ THE AGE OF 25) THAN ALL OF THEM. I DON’T THINK ANYONE WOULD ARGUE WITH THE FIRST CLAIM, BUT I WILL EXPLAIN THE “WISER” COMMENT. ONE WAY TO DISPLAY WISDOM IS TO SHOW THAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM YOUR OWN, & OTHERS MISTAKES. LEBRON’S MOST RECENT LESSON CAME FROM KEVIN GARNETT, WHO TOLD HIM THAT HE WISHES HE COULD HAVE JOINED FORCES WITH GREAT PLAYERS SOONER. KNOW THAT’S A REAL MAN, TALKING REAL THINGS TO A 25 YEAR OLD YOUNG MAN WITH A BIG DECISION TO MAKE. IT’S REAL, BECAUSE IT’S THE TRUTH & NOTHING BUT. NOW WHAT IS FAKE IS THESE THREE SAYING THAT THEY WOULDN’T HAVE DONE THE SAME THING, OR NOT OWNING UP TO THEIR MISTAKE AND/OR REGRET FOR NOT DOING THE SAME THING.

BARKLEY SHOULD BE SAYING WAY TO GO LEBRON FOR NOT MAKING THE SAME MISTAKE I DID. I REALLY HATE TO SAY IT, BUT I GUESS CHARLES WAS RIGHT FOR SAYING HE WASN’T A ROLE MODEL. DON’T WE WANT TO TEACH OUR KIDS THAT WE CAN’T DO EVERYTHING ON OUR OWN, THAT HELP IS GOING TO BE NEEDED IN THIS LIFE, AND NOT JUST ANY HELP, BUT GOOD HELP, AND IF YOU CAN GET GREAT HELP THAT’S EVEN BETTER, BECAUSE IT WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BETTER…

AND IF YOU SAY THAT’S NOT THE WAY THEY DID IT BACK IN THE DAY, THEN GOOD. THEN THAT MEANS WE ARE PROGRESSING. OUR YOUNG PEOPLE ARE WATCHING AND LEARNIG TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS FOR THEIR LIVES. LEBRON PUT HIMSELF IN THE SITUATION TO MAKE THIS DECISION. THAT SHOULD BE COMMENDED ALONE.

LETS SAY THERE’S A DAD WHO WORKED HARD ALL HIS LIFE, UNTIL HE COULDN’T STRAIGHTEN HIS BACK, AND ULTIMATLEY DIED AT AN EARLY AGE, WITH NOT MUCH TO SHOW FOR HIS LIFE, EXCEPT THAT HE LOVED HIS FAMILY & HIS DEDICATION FOR THEM WAS NEVER QUESTIONED. NOW THAT’S AN HONORABLE & COMMENDABLE THING, NO DOUBT. BUT DOES THAT MEAN HIS SON SHOULD FOLLOW THE SAME PATH TO END UP WITH THE SAM FATE? OR SHOULD HE LEARN FROM WHAT HIS FATHER WENT THROUGH, AND MAKE HIS LIFE BETTER.

AND HONESTLY, AFTER HEARING WHAT THE CAVS OWNER HAD TO SAY ABOUT LEBRON AFTER HE LEFT, HOW COULD ANYONE, AND FORMER PLAYERS AT THAT, SAY THAT THEY THINK HE SHOULD HAVE STAYED TO PLAY WITH SOMEONE LIKE THAT???

LETS CONGRATULATE OUR YOUNG PEOPLE FOR STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE FINALLY AND ACTUALLY IN SOME INSTANCES HOLDING MORE POWER THAN AN NBA OWNER. AND MAKING WISE DECISIONS IN PRESSURE SITUATIONS.

The only problem is the way he ditched the Cavs. Really, 1 hr. special to say adios???!!! Not cool. Let’s say there’s a guy who had a chance to get with 1 of 3 fine girls. To make your choice on national TV? Where’s the dignity? the professionalism? He’s too full of himself. MJ was all about greatness. Kobe is all about winning. LBJ is all about HYPE!

This whole (you are supposed to be the main in your team) attitude is the reason for why Team USA lost in the world championships. . USA had to practice as a team to win the year after that didn’t they?
(In addition, if Wade, Lebron and Bosh together for Team USA again, having been teammates will certainly come in handy)

By the way, Michael Jordan had Rodman (by FAR the best rebounder in the league, as stats evidence for those seasons), Kukoc (the best 6th man in the NBA, he got the award), Pippen (the best supporting cast), Steve Kerr ( the best 3p % in the whole league), Ron Harper (one of the best defenders on the league at the time)

It wasn’t odd to see Pippen score 30 points in one night and even Kukoc did it on some occasions too.
(Phil Jackson as coach)

What about the Showtime Lakers, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper (chosen defensive player of the year on a season), Thats sounds like a Hall of Fame list and not a team.
(Pat Riley as coach)

Kobe certainly did not do it by himself. On his first 3 rings he wasn’t even the MVP and on the last 2 he had
Pau Gasol (arguably the best big right now), Lamar Odom (a regular in any team), Ron Artest (same goes here) etc etc
list too long to continue. (Phil Jackson as coach)

I mean, read those names again and tell me that team is not crafted by money to make a championship. Artest had to take the mid-level to play but we all know he is worth more than that.

The Spurs David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, etc. etc. Sure I can see that theres only one star in that whole bunch because none of those other guys went on to be stars, of course…..

Celtic Pierce, Garnett, Ray Allen, Rondo, Rasheed, we now that one…..

Bottom line, show me a championship team that has won without having superstars or a remarkable supporting cast. Even more so, show me a dynasty that did not use multiple stars, I would really like to see it…..But there is no such thing

Who is Charles Barkely?RINGLESS.Who is C-Webb?RINGLESS.Who is Reggie Miller?RINGLESS.Who is Patrick Ewing?RINGLESS.Who in the blue hell is Snow?RINGLESS.All these guys can hate all they want cause they are all bitter has beens that weren’t smart enough to do the same thing or do it early enough in their careers (C-Webb from Golden State to Sacremento or Barkely from Phoenix to Houston you hypocrites you tryung to use the “I was old by then lame excuse”). When Lebron James has 7 or 8 rings and is on the heels of Bill Russel nobody’s gonna give a damn who his teammates were. Howmany of these young heads can name the starting line-ups for each of Bill Russel’s title runs? That’s Right I didn’t think so yet BILL RUSSEL has an MVP named after him when the GREATEST OF ALL TIME MICHAEL JEFFREY JORDAN DOES NOT!!!! When Lebron’s career is over all of these has beens or never was will be forgotten and their comments will be too. Where are all the nay sayers that said Jordan would can never be considered the greatest player until he “FINALLY” won his first title at 29 years old?FORGOTTEN. Where are all the nay sayers that said Kobe can never be mentioned in the same category as Jordan cause he went along for the free ride with Shaq Diesal for the 1st 3 rings?FORGOTTEN.What about the criticisms of Shaq leaving Orlando while they still were arguably still the top 3 teams in the NBA for L.A.?FOGOTTEN. Get the Picture?Lebron’s doing exactly whathe needs to do in order for his brand to grow and achieve Legendary status. In the end he will be In the Top 50 Greatest Players along side MJ and KB24. While these critics (short for hypocrits) will be FORGOTTEN.

After reading all the comments on this thread, I just dont see why people hate lebron for making his decision.

If we take a look at his tenure in Cleveland, he achieved so much there, he took the team to the finals, defeated detroit pistons, losing to San Antonio, taking the team to the playoffs in 2 years. Certainly Shaq was there but what was the quality of shaq? was he the same dominating centre as he once was? No.

Mo Williams? I am not saying he does isnt of a quality player, yes he did great during the season but came two playoffs? His presence wasnt felt as much as they needed him. Delonte West? Where was his productivity during the playoffs? Have you seen the their playoff game with Boston? They panicked and scrambled. Anderson Varejao? His role there is to try and start altercations with the star players on the opposing team and hopefully get them suspended and yes rebound and complain on fouls. Jamison? He did contribute but we wished he contributed more often.

Before Pau went to Lakers, he was well known as a centre who was doing well in Memphis, he was scoring 15-20 points leading his team and you say Kobe mad him better? I’d say Phil made him better and had a bigger contribution but now wholly have kobe take the credit.

I don’t really know how your minds work when using the term “EASY WAY OUT” but if you take this incident right now professionally, it means that he made a very wise to decision to go to a team that has a HIGH PERCENTAGE of winning. If your emotions are making you at this very moment to use such negative words or thoughts, I wouldn’t want to try and broaden your senses and think of this situation or decision as properties of a good business decision.

We may say or perceive it as trying to find a promotion at work and spending time and giving quality work to get that promotion but never comes. What if a newly opened company that had good reputation opened across the street that would offer you the same that promotion or a high degree of getting that promotion? Please take time to process the statistics.

This just means, well to me as how I see it, LBJ made a very wise decision. Why wait till 28 or 30 to win a title when this opportunity is given to you now? I’d rather be practical. Fine, use the negative words, chicken, easy way out but at the end of the day, business wise, lebron still is a winner. Yes yes yes we have a heart and sorry to the fans of Cavs and I still cant believe they were Lebrons fans when they end up burning his jersey? I see. For the other comments here, wish we could all see the best decision as far as winning titles.

Legacy? Why keep trying to have this word as important as the title itself? Why have this word imprison you in your own pride in being the MAN that brought your team the rings? Why let this word dictate your decision and allow it be compared to MJ when that is a different story we are all trying to familiarse other superstars with? Legacy and being the MAN till you realise that your 30 and you need help then? And what if an injury to your knees keeps you further and decreases your output? Right. Legacy? what a bother.

Keep trying and trying to be the MAN and win it for the Cavs? Sure James wouldv’e have done it if he saw or felt he had quality supporting cast.

It is hard for me to not like what Lebron had done and I am not a Lebron fan. I mean he had a choice and he made it. Everyone is critizing him for leaving the cavs but come on they haven’t won and they probably would not have won because Lebron can’t handle the pressure and close a game in the playoffs. Know I think he should of gone to chicago becaues with him on that them they could of had a legit chance to compete with the lakers next season, but miami is a good choice also so just not for the imediate future. And he did nothing wrong with the way he went about making his choice. I mean sometimes players don’t know that they are getting traded until the deal goes down and in some cases they don’t even find out by the organization. So Lebron does not own them anything he has played for them for seven yrs and taken them to places that they never even thought they could go. As far as the special I thought it was a little over the top but it was all for charity. So he used his star power and all the buzz surrounding his decision to raise money for the boys and girls club so I don’t see anything wrong with that. As far as him being compared to Michael Jordan I never really thought he should of in the first place. If he does win a championship or even multiple championship of course he will be knocked because he was surrounded by an allstar team. But it is still a ring on his finger. Nobody knock the big three in Boston when they won, now granted they are not superstars but they were all top 20 players in the NBA. KG even said that he stayed to long on the t wolves that he should of left long before but because of his loyatly to the team he stayed. Know the cavs are not even close to how bad the t wolves were and are, but not winning is not winning. It is much worse when you are so close multiple years and you fall short and you make changes to roster and still far short. Going to the heat is opurtunity that he could not pass up everyone could say he should of stayed and tried to win in clevland, but NEWS FLASH he has tried and FAILED. Besides him teaming up with Dwade and Bosh does not garantee a championship because even with those three they are not better then the Lakers. They stil have to surround them with good players and lets face it it is more about money for most ppl then it is rings. If you had a choice to go the heat for a minimum salary or the bulls for a max salary and they have just as good of a chance to win a championship as the heat or go to the knicks and get overpaid for probably a year where would you go? At the end of the day if and or when they start to win championships everyone is going to forget all about this and they would go down as the best TEAM, not individual, in NBA history.

Ok. What about one of the GREATEST to ever play the game, Kareem abdul Jabbar. At least Lebron waited until his contract was finished whereas Kareem REQUESTED a trade! And his Legacy was not tarnished at all. So why is Lebrons? Only because its his home town. If Milwaukee was Kareem’s home town then the same would of happened to him. Everyone needs to back off lebron.

And people saying he cant be in the same greatness as Kobe and MJ? Why because he didn’t stay on the same team?
Thats bull. First of all Kobe plays for the Lakers, it’s not hard to find a good supporting cast for him to win a championship because who doesn’t want to play for one of the greatest dynastys in basketball? Exactly, thats why Kobe never left. Chicago is also a pretty big/nice sized market thats why players wanted to play there with MJ, and why he never left.
BUT look at the kind of market Cleveland is. Its a LOT harder to get players to want to play there which means it would be harder to get a talented supporting cast to help lebron win a ring. MJ and Kobe’s legacy would have NEVER been if they had not been surrounded by good players- Shaq, Pau, Artest, Odom ect and Pippen, Rodman ect.
What about Kevin Garnett? He left the only team hes ever played for to play for the celtics with Ray allen and Paul pierce, No one ever cussed him out. Why? Becuase it wasn’t his home town.

At the End of the day the goal of being in the NBA is to win a championship. And you would be stupid to pass up the chance of winning a ring, thats a once in a life time opportunity. Plus people were always saying to Lebron ‘He cant be better then so and so because he doesnt have the rings’ Now that he’s trying to get the rings everybodies like ‘He’s a sell out blah blah blah’

I’m sure if cleveland would of gave him a Pau gasol or Ron Artest then he wouldn’t of left and they would of been the champions. But do you really think they would of wanted to go to cleveland?

Leave Lebron alone, if he wasn’t a phenom then people wouldn’t care where he went.
He’s a grown ass man, he can play where he wants.

Lebron let the Cavs down bigtime, the bigest issue I found with Lebron was not comitting to the Cavs 3 years ago for 5 or 6 years so they could have built a team for the long haul, he had them over a barrel and they had to try whatever they could to win a championship now, and they did everything they could, if he would have committed to them back then they could have built a much better team for the long haul, I am starting to belive he gave up in the Boston series as Gilbert stated because he knew then he was leaving and if they went on to win it all it would have been very tough to leave with his mind made up he quit and let the franchise and city down, if you watched those games especially game 5 he was not there not even trying. He did take the cowardly way out, I have been a big fan of his over his 7 years in Cleveland but after his actions in the Boston series and how he stuck it to Cleveland he has slipped big time in the rank of greats.

if Miami dont win 5 championships in nxt 6yrs they wont be considered a dyntasy.. lakers will still be hard 2 beat ,celtic defense makes dem contenders.. Lebron is 1 of da top 3players in da league next 2 Kobe n Wade who have rings which is wat separate dem..if Miami ends up winning 6 championships in a row n LBJ gets acouple final mvp his legacy will be about da same if he stay wit da Cav or wen2 Bull n end up just winning 1 or 2 rings.But if dis Miami superteam stay 2gether 4 da rest of their career n end up winnin 9-10 champions den we can mention him in da same breath as MJ n da great LA n Celtic dynasties

this is very simple, Lebron James just screwed over the NBA. It is the NBA’s fault for trying to put him in the same breath as Michael Jordan all the time. Lebron James knows he was never going to be as good as MJ and for Lebron (like any athlete) what is most important is not the money or the business, but the pleasure of winning a championship, and this is best when you do it with your friends. The NBA wanted Lebron to be the next MJ so that they could have a face that would the organization millions, but LeBron ‘betrayed’ then and ‘disappointed’ them by choosing winning championships rather than being the ‘face’ of the NBA and make a business out of it. Plus, that whole being ‘the guy’ thing Chuck talked about…. can players really be that self-centered that they can say to themselves “ok, I am so good that I am going to win a Championship for myself and sacrifice teammwork, my teammates, my fans, and my team in order to achieve personal achievements” bffff. In the Spanish National team for soccer you see the likes of Silva, Torres, Fabregas, and others sacrificing their ego and their personal achievements in order to help the Spanish team perhaps win their first World Cup and bring happiness to 40 million people who are depressed at the moment due to the Financial Crisis.

Everybody need to shut up about how lebron took the easy way out…like everybody said the nba is a business, n in this business u got to do whatever it takes to win a championship because at the end of the day dats what it all cums down to winning that championship.n if dat means chasing it then so what..but tell me this how cum n dis business, it’s ok for u to be traded or ok for a team to trade u n u not know you’ve been traded until the next day, but it’s not ok for a free agent u c i said “free’ to go somewhere without his name being bashed..also tell me this y is it ok for u as a kid to chase ur dreams, but now when lebron decides to do what everybody around the world say it’s ok to do, he gets criticized for it by people saying o he’s a coward, or o he’s taking the easy way out..man please…ok let’s say lebron did decide to stay n Cleveland, how long would it have taken for them to put better players around lebron without the available cap space..So they could ultimately win the goal everybody is aiming at…that could have taking more yrs so lebron would have been committed to a team that was good but not good enough..So lebron felt he had to go chase the dream n not sit back n wait for the dream to cum to him…an i am tired of hearing that o now lebron is not going to be mention or not going to go down as one of the greats that played in the league like MJ n Kobe..But n my opinion i say so what cuz at the end of the day lebron is his own person n so is MJ n Kobe…n yea who wouldn’t want to be mentioned in there cuz everybody do but it doesn’t always happen that way…but i guarantee u as soon as lebron start to win some championships n win the same amount as MJ n Kobe, his name will be thrown n the mix again no matter how things went down..People would start to like him again n people is going start to say he’s gunna go down as one of the great’s n basketball trust n believe dat…but on to say what if lebron did choose to go to Chicago, people is stilling going to criticize him by saying o now he’s going to be living n the shadow of Jordan n that would have been the same thing if Wade would have went..i saw somebody mention if lebron is suppose to be the king then y didn’t he get nobody to cum to him, mind you he did he tried to get bosh but bosh didn’t want to play n Cleveland so u can’t force nobody to do what they don’t want to do..n y ya’ll keep saying its wade’s team, tactically it’s not wade’s team cuz wade only won 1 championship ,now a day’s one is not enough to get it done n the business world of the nba, especially if u trying to be mentioned as one of the best who won multiple championships..but let’s move on to the Kobe situation, who ever said lebron is a cry baby n he need to stick with that n run with it, may i tell u Kobe is the biggest cry baby in the league..Cuz if he wasn’t then y he threatened the whole Lakers organization by opting out of his contract…i know ya’ll would say it’s because he wanted to let them know he need help, ok fine but y didn’t he just wait for them to put pieces around him like ya’ll lebron to do, i know y cuz if he did he would be n the same situation lebron is n now..n yea Kobe do make players around him better but at the same time those same players around him make him look even better because they r the ones that got to pass him the ball..Now let’s say the Lakers didn’t bring in Pau Gasol to help Kobe, ya’ll still think Kobe would have stayed n LA…No don’t think so, so ya’ll need to catch ya’ll selves because ya’ll know deep n ya’ll hearts Kobe would have been on the next plane day to play with a different team, franchise, and organization..N if that would have happened what would ya’ll be saying about Kobe, i know the same things ya’ll saying about lebron now so hold off on all the bull

The 1 question i would like to ask the legends is, what’s the difference if LBJ leaves to play with Wade and Bosh in Miami or if Wade and Bosh came to Cleveland. No matter what, someone is buying a team. I liked what Reggie Miller said about keeping a great player in a small market. In baseball, I’ll never watch a world series if the Yankees are in it. They buy a team every year. I think it’s crazy the whatever the starting lineup is for the MLB all star game will probably be the starting lineup for the Yankees in a few years. Granted they don’t win every year but they’re always in it. (The NFL has the best system to me.) The Celtics traded for Allen and Garnett a few years ago. I’ll give them a little slack cause Allen was trade to other teams before, and as good as he is, he was never one of the most dominate players in the league. With Garnett, they got a steal. But Garnett was older and had four extra years of playing in the NBA cause he came right out of high school. See what happened to him last year with injuries. The Lakers got a steal with Pau. He was the best player on Memphis, and he was young. But, Pau became a better player because of two reasons: Kobe and Jackson. They made him become a better player. If he didn’t, he would have be gone by now. The lakers have the best starting 5 over the last few years. Best six players if you count Lamar. And The best coach. Personal who know how to win. The lakers have this because they’re like the Yankees. They can pay to keep the team together. Which is another reason LBJ left for Miami, because of Riley. 5 rings with two teams. No nonsense guy. No being out coached with him hanging around. And Miami has money to spend. Does Cleveland have all this? No, and it wasn’t going to. As far as Bird, Magic, and Jordan not leaving their teams to go else where. Those guys didn’t leave because it was a different era. They were the highest paid players on their teams, and free agency was nothing like today. I think that if the Indiana Pacer were able to offer Larry Bird back in 1983, when the celtics lost in the second round, more money to play with them and they were bringing in Moses Malone and Magic Johnson to play with them, he would have left in a heart beat.

and 1 last bosh is a superstar why? because he joined the team USA… then dont compared jordan-kobe or jordan-lebron they are not the same people they make their legacy… it depends on pat riley how can he handle the 3 of them thats all

Pat Riley respected MJ too much that he retired # 23 in Miami even though the guy was never a part of the team. Wade’s # 3 will surely be hanging alongside # 23 in the future (with other greats).

LJB (now # 6) & CB (now # 1) need to prove their places in the South Beach hallowed arena. Kobe’s # 24 is a shoo in for the honorable retirement under the Lakers hall (no doubt about it).

LBJ did something great in Cleveland but too soon for them to honor LBJ at this time. Let us wait and see!

For this decade (2010-2019) who will be crowned the NBA dynasty team? After this free agency shakedown, the crystal ball is showing something clear (unless it is shaken again by another earthshaking movements in the next free agencies).

come on lebron isnt dumb or whatever you want 2 say 2 him did you ever see lebron fight with other players???NO..and WTF are you saying pau is the most dominant big man wake up… what about howard,yao even KG for me lebron is smart because he wants 2 win the title..you dont have the right 2 comment about being lebron suck or Whatever…The lakers cant win without the help of phil jackson Boston cant win either without doc it is not about the players it is about how the coach handle it..

Please stop comparing Kobe to Jordan. Bryant will never come close and you simply embarrass yourself by even stating something so absurd. If you need proof, go watch some game footage featuring Jordan in his heyday. A perfect example which comes to mind is when he made that game-winning shot after breaking Bryon Russells ankles in game 6 of the finals vs Utah in the mid-90s.

Why so much hate for LeBron? He left the Cavs? Well it’s called business for a reason. Perhaps if they had traded for Stoudemire before the trade deadline last season he’d still be there. In fairness, the Cavs did try to get James help. They brought in Mo who unfortunately is a streaky shooter who didn’t produce well enough towards the end. Jamison needed more time to sync into the system. We all saw what happened when Shaq joined Phoenix, he certainly didn’t help there and didn’t help enough in Cleveland either.

So many of you people are having a whinge and it’s hard to fathom why. Team owners/GMs don’t show loyalty to players, yet it seems you expect it when the shoe’s on the other foot. LeBron wants a ring, he felt he couldn’t get it with the Cavs so he moved on. It was his choice and he’s entitled to it. It’s hard to see why he wouldn’t join such a scenario as the one he now finds himself in. LeBron probably feels like a kid in a candy store now as he has 2 phenomenal players to play with. Mo, Jamison and Shaq (at the age when he joined the Cavs) can’t compare to having Wade and Bosh as teammates (if Shaq was in his prime when joining the Cavs though, obviously it would have been a lot different).

Personally, this will add a lot of excitement to any game I watch next season featuring the Heat. The best thing for the Heat organisation is that this trio is still so young, so the chance for the team to conquer the NBA for 5 or more seasons is very strong indeed.

I’m not sure if the Cavs have enough cap space to bring a top free agent in. Plus if you’ve read many articles or watched videos in this site, you might’ve come across the thing about Bosh not liking the the city of Cleveland for some reason not mentioned- even if Lebron stayed with the Cavs. Now that lbj is in miami, it is still unclear as to what the Cavs’ plans are… I just think that Lebron is just too wise to bite the “hometown” stuff that the Cavs are trying to sell. They’re not too transparent with their plans of getting that 2nd player to complment Lebron. Anyways, Lebron still represent Akron I believe. I don’t think he really left his Kingdom back home. He is just expanding his territory in pursuit of an NBA championship… hopefully by the end of his career he gets more than 1.

The winters in Cleveland are really bad. I would move for that reason alone. That being said, he should have handled his departure more tastefully and low-key. That didn’t surprise me; he’s just a kid.

I kind of think there’s a lot of hypocrisy going on here. We complain all the time that athletes only care about themselves and care bout how much money they make and personally I’m tired of the legacy talk. That’s just for the media so they fill their time with review shows. Maybe the guys just wanted to play basketball with his friends. They always say it’s “lonely on the top” well guess what now it gets to share whatever success he has with some of his best friends. When you play basketball in the backyard isn’t it more fun with your friends. Besides screw legacy when your dead, your dead… can’t take it with you. You might as well enjoy the ride with people you care about.

I also have to laugh about Barkley saying when he was 25 he wanted to be the man to win championship…maybe that is why he never won any… It’s a team game. You get to make a lot of money doing it… have fun! I think Lebron is going to have a lot of fun! That will mean way more to him then some stupid legacy. Look at Jordan, my favorite basketball players best all time. But doesn’t he always seem like he’s unsatisfied looking for that next best thing. You’re never fufilled with a legacy…

everybody need to shut up about how lebron took the easy way out..like everybody said the nba is a business, n in dis business u gotta do wat ever it takes to win a championship cuz at the end of the day dats wat it all cums down to winning that championship.n if dat means chasing it den so wat..but tell me dis how cum n dis bsiness, its ok for u to be traded or ok for a team to trade u n u not no you’ve been traded until the next day, but its not ok for a free agent u c i said “free’ to go somewhere witout his name being bashed..also tell me dis it was also ok for u as a kid to chase ur dreams, but now when lebron decides to do wat everybody around the world say its ok to do, he gets critized for it by people saying o he’s a coward, or o he’s taking the easy way out..man please…ok lets say lebron did decide to stay n cleveland, how long would it have takin for them to put better players around lebron witout the avaliable cap space..so they could ulimately win the goal everybody is aimming at..that could have taking more yrs so lebron would have be committd to a team that was gud but not gud enough..so lebron felt he had to go chase the dream n not sit back n wait for the dream to cum to him..n i am tired of hearing that o now lebron is not gong to be mention or go down as one of the greats that played in the league like MJ n Kobe..but n my opinion i say so wat cuz at the the end of the day lebron is his own person n so is MJ n Kobe..n yea who wouldnt wanna be mentioned n there cuz everybody do but it dont happen always that way..but i guarantee u as soon as lebron start to win some chamionships n win the same amount as MJ n Kobe, his name will be thrown n the mix again no matter how things went down..people would start to like him again n people is going start to say he’s gunna go down as one of the greats n basketball trust n believe dat…but on to say wat if lebron did choose to go to chicago, people is stilling going to critize him by saying o now he’s going to be living n the shadow of Jordan n that would have been samething if Wade would have went..i saw sumbody mention if lebron is suppose to be the king then y didnt he getting nobody to cum to him, mind chu he did he tried to get bosh but bosh didnt want to play n cleveland so u can’t force nobody to do wat they don’t want to do..n y ya’ll keep saying its wade’s team, tactically its not wade’s team cuz wade only won 1 chamionship,now a days one is not enough to get it done n the business of the nba world, espically if u trying to be mentioned as one of the best who won multiple championships..but lets move on to the kobe situation, who ever said lebron is a cry baby n he need to stick wit that n run wit it, may i tell u kobe is the biggest cry baby in the league..cuz if he wasn’t then y he threatned the whole lakers organization by opting out of his contract..i know ya’ll would say its because he wanted to let them know he need help,ok fine but y didnt he just wait for them to put pieces around him like ya’ll lebron to do, i know y cuz if he did he would be n the same situation lebron is n now..n yea kobe do make players around him better but at the same time those same players around him make look even better because they r the ones that gotta pass him the ball..now lets say the lakers didnt bring in Pau Gasol to help Kobe, ya’ll kobe still would have stayed n LA..No dont think so,so ya’ll need to catch ya’ll selves because ya’ll deep n ya’ll hearts kobe would have been on the next plane to play wit a different team,franchise,n organization..n if that would have happened what would ya’ll be saying about kobe, i know the same things ya’ll saying about lebron know so hold off on all the bull

I don’t understand how this kid is getting knocked one minute everybody was ridding his and now because he wants to win and play with guys that he know will work hard as he will is wrong.It was ok when Garnette and Ray signed with the Celtics but wrong for this move,why beat yourself up year after year(aka ..Garnette..Mcgrady..Barkley) thinking one man player is going to get you there.Every team that have won an championship had more than one spuerstar on it, you can’t tell me that Jordan,Magic,Bird,and even Kobe didn’t have allstar players playing along side them on there run to there rings as for C Web you should know better than anyone that if you and your fab 5 had a chance to play togeter on that level you wouldn’t take that chance.Now as for Cleveland has any one stepped back and thought about what this kid went through during these playoffs, if I had to be the last to know about things that are to the up most disrespectful I would want out also.The fans I can understand a little, but it is about a business move not personal towards them

My thing is if LBJ is such a “super star” he should have been able to convince players to come to Cleavland instead of being suced into joing D-Wayde and Bosh in Miami. This speaks volumes of the kind of person he is, i mean if it’s all about winning championships why couldn’t he influence other good players to come to his team but i guess that’s just the road he took. Another thing is the whole situation speaks of the person D-wayde is,being apart of getting LBJ and Bosh to Miami. BIG UP to Pat Riley,D-Wayde And the crew.LBJ you should have stayed in your home town bring a championship home and continue to be king. I know whenever you decide to retire it won’t be in Cleveland because the people there won’t soon forget what you did to them.

man cut the crap of players jumping ship like kg and ray… lakers only won this year with artest. kg and ray and the truth joined up in the end of the careers not in themiddle of there best years… Lebron is a sellout and just achump now trying to take dwades glow… Durantula a real good guy still gunna try and there (thunder) next in line after lakers start to retire. The king is dead he is now a pauper

I’m surprised that all of the “experts” want LeBron to go here or there. He can go whereever he wants to! The guy played with the Cavs for seven seasons and he took them as far as they could go. The guy wants to win. From a logical point of view the move to the Heat makes complete sense. P.S.-I’m buying my new Heat jersey!

hey guys… i think Wade is there(Jordan and Kobe comparison)…i like it when its only Bosh..but LBJ is Fine…but it would be more competative if LBJ didnt go to Heat..anyway…its a blessing as well! hahahahaha! ahh crap LBJ just didnt ruined he’s legacy but maybe Wade and Bosh too..u.u

I agree that D Wade and Kobe are cut from the same mold (Jordan). But there will probably never be anyone who tops Jordan.

Kobe is a great player in his own rights, but some people saying he will surpass Jordan is not a very intelligent. He may (and probably will) overtake Jordans’ career scororing average. And he may even pass the number of championships (of course, last i checked 6-0 = 100%, 5-2 means you can never be perfect). but Jordan was a global Icon… the man who really took the NBA international.

I was also really happy when Bosh committed to the heat… and was thinking Lebron would choose the Bulls, or stay in Cleveland. He suprised me when he announced (on national TV) that he was leaving for Miami. Good decision, bad execution. People keep trying to compare this to something that’s happened before, but it’s never happened before… so it can’t be compared to anyone else. It’s more like a pick-up game in basketball when you try to get the best players on your team. It”s gonna be something to watch.

Trust me BB4Life MJ was not the first to take BB global. Magic and Bird were huge internationally before MJ hit the scene, The world was bigger then and you just did not know about it. I traveled around the world when they were on top and you saw their faces and brands everywhere. Nobody is saying MJ was not one of the greatest of all-time; don’t get it twisted, he will be surpassed and Kobe is the most likely one to surpass his greatness. Kobe will eventually be surpassed that’s just how things evolve. It may be awhile before we see the likes of these guys again, but in reality we said the same about Kareem, Dr. J, Magic, Bird. These guys really made an impact on the game, sure they did, and so did MJ. In this era it was Duncan and Robinson, Shaq and Kobe. For some reason, we don’t talk as much about the Olajawon/Drexler and Thomas, Aquirre, Rodman teams. They were very special players but we tend not to include them in the conversation and they won multiple championships. This is a game that for the most part has been dominated by talented centers and 2 guards with few exceptions (Magic, who could play all 5 positions, Bird and Barkley at the 3/4) Next, we’ll have to see what this current group of talented players can do with their teams – LeBron, Wade, Carmelo, Durant, Paul, Howard, Nelson, Rondo. These cats are incredibly talented but the thing we remember the great ones by is the championships they won with their teams. Cases in point – Barkley, Ewing, Miller, Malone, Stockton, Kidd, Dom. Wilkins; these were some of the greatest individual players we’ve ever seen and yet we don’t routinely include them in the conversation when we talk about the greatest of all-time. Probably because they don’t have a championship or did not contend for the championship on multiple occasions (Kidd may be the exception). There is something about these other players that have won championships that grabs our imagination and makes us who love the game of basketball love it even more. This next crop of talented players is doing the same thing but it is too early to tell what impact they’ll have because only Wade has a championship and we are watching him closely. Kobe has 5, he IS a global icon (just travel outside of the US, you’ll see), he’s the best player in the world – just listen to other NBA players talk about him, and he’ll play for at least 3 more years at the level he has been. So please be objective about his accomplishments and give him the credit he’s due. When he hangs ’em up we can have a real discussion about who’s legacy is the most impactful…until then, the book is till being written. Jordan is done, he’s set a high bar, now let’s see who’s got the game and leadership skills to compare with him. Kobe’s not there yet, but he’s knocking on the door. LeBron isn’t even in the conversation, he’s making a lot of noise racking up stats, but he hasn’t done what the truly great ones have done…yet.

Kevin Garnett, in their recent series win against the Cavs, said something to Lebron regarding his (KG) regrets his loyalty to his old team- the Minnesotta Timberwolves. KG regrets not LEAVING the Timberwolves earlier in his career, and Lebron listened to the man. KG has tasted NBA glory. Regarding choosing to play alongside Wade and Bosh, would Michael Jordan not want to have a teammate like Magic Johnson? Would Hakeem Olajuwon say he’d rather play against Michael Jordan than play WITH him? Or David Robinson choosing another player less talented than Tim Duncan? I doubt it. They (the old players who claim to want to be ‘The Man’) can probably lie about it now that their career is over (like Sir Charles), But I doubt people would not want to have great teammates. It is just a matter of circumstances where LBJ had the option to play alongside Bosh and Wade. No disrespect to Sir Charles Barkley (1 of my faves all time) but what good did it bring him that he chose to leave his former team to play with Hakeem and the great Houston team? Is it bad for Lebron to be wiser through the experiences of Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, or even Kevin Garnett? 2 Things: (1) LBJ was in a position to be with 2 great players and he grabbed the opportunity. And why not? I thought some people looked at him as a self-absorbed man? Now that he is willing to share the spotlight, he is a coward? Where is he to go then? (2) He did not want to make the same mistakes as what the others have made. He wants the ring early in his career, and that is good for the sport in a generation where it seems only MONEY talks. He just wants to win and who are you to judge which is the best path for him? Best of luck.

LBJ should have stayed in Cleveland. He should have finished his business first with the Cavs of winning at least a ring. NY is another option since the Knicks haven’t reached the playoffs for the longest time and teaming up with with Amare can be a formidable duo that can translate to championship. Transforming NY to a winning team can build his legacy. Chicago is not an option since there is already a statue of MJ outside United Center so Chicago will always be MJs team. The Heat is DWades team and can never be LBJs team. LBJ will just be Robin to Wade’s Batman. Saying LBJ does not have backup in Cleveland is totally nonsense. I don’t know how the Cavs won more than 60 games the last two seasons without supporting players. Give the other players (Williams, Varejao, West etc.) credit for doing the dirty work and let LBJ get his stats. What is clear is that regular season is totally different from the playoffs. This is where you separate men from the boys. Good players play well during the regular season but GREAT players excel during the playoffs and the FINALS.

Yes LBJ did so called “sacrificing” million dollars for his quest to win championship(s), But it turns out to be the EASY ROUTE for player his calibre. The decision instantly jeopardize his legacy and as C.Webb said,we can’t put LBJ on the same page as MJ(&KB perhaps) coz we can’t compare those franchise players with DWade sidekick.

the thing i have yet to see any discussion about is how little this has to do with basketball and how much it has to do with spectacle.

you could argue that lebron should have stayed in cleveland…. won a title the honorable way. boost a team and a city which has seen much better days to the ethos of greatness. it’s a great story and always has been. he had some chances and had some help, regardless of what people say. (mo williams, antawn jamison, big z’s contract craziness this year, varejao, shaq, and so on, and so on) bottom line? couldn’t hack it, good luck trying to win, i’m going to love booing you.

or..

you could say, yeah i get it the guy wants to win a title. by any means necessary. i’m going to a team of all-stars and we’re going to get it done. the celtics did it. brought garnett, allen, and pierce together and they won it that year. lebron wants to win a few titles and this is how he’ll do it, awesome!

what everyone’s failing to realize is that in a few swift moves, the whole idea of what it means to play basketball has changed because of one kid. i watched the 1 hour snoozer that was “the decision”, as lebron stumbles over rehearsed lines, “validating” his every thought. i watched the videos on this website, the event they held in the aa arena last night….. they are sitting on stage laughing, because they know regardless of the pay cut they all take, jersey sales just went through the roof. lebron says it himself “i’m all about business.’ winning championships is all well and good, but what happened to playing basketball? i feel old typing this, but it seems the older i get the further the actual game of basketball drifts away and this idea of marketing, branding, and show-business becomes the fore front of what the nba is all about. next thing you know ron artest is going to be body-slamming joey crawford through the announcers table because of a bad call.
is the next generation of nba stars going to have their own individual theme music?
bottom line:
michael jordan had class
larry bird had class
kareem/magic, duncan/robinson,
even kobe (and i’m from boston) has a certain level of class.

these three clowns are trying to create magic. you don’t get the feeling of greatness by signing the greatest. it’s a special thing… the flutie moment, the saints winning a super bowl, the red sox winning a world series. winning a championship in cleveland with the odds stacked would’ve been cool. instead you have 3 parts of an olympic team showing you “yes. we. did.” they already have there own slogan and they haven’t even won a game. where’s the appeal in that? people tend to root for the underdog, and now you’ve got a situation where people are going to love it when you lose and say big deal when you win.

but it doesn’t really matter, because we’re all watching…. and that’s all they wanted anyways.

sure a lot of people here that probably never ever played organized basketball making lots of bad comments about lebron’s decision . . . everyone knows deep down it was the best choice . . .like him or not it was the best choice . . . unless u r in his shoes and last time i checked none of u haters are quit bitc**** like little babies . . . kobe’s one of the greats ever . . . i don’t like him because he has no character . . .he will throw his team under the bus if they r not winning . . .if any of u has ever gone to staples and actually seen him play . . .his body language alone says it all when they r losing . . .he even does it to gasol who is the reason for his two rings . . .phil jackson’s book says it all . . .pick up a book every now and then and stop getting all ur facts from espn . . .kobe will always be second or third best behind mj . . .mj had the character that’s y kobe will never top him . . .so stop complaining about what lebron is trying to do . . .all the guy wants to do is win at the highest level of his sport . . . the games still need to be played and the season still has not even started so y all the hate . . .it’s really because all of u haters r afraid that this team might actually become as good as everyone thinks they might be . . .if u r true basketball fans u should be excited to see this team and what action they can bring . . . i don’t like kobe and i don’t like the lakers and i live in los angeles but i watch them because they play amazing basketball and kobe does amazing things so i give them their dues when they win . . .u don’t have to like the person but u should accept his talent . . .so think about what u guys r writing on here . . .

i dun understand why would lbj chose to go miami. its not like he’s in his twilight yrs of his nba career.
he call himself the “chosen one “; ” the king”?? what ever he done in the last week just showed wat a spoiled child he truly is.

i grew up watching nba in the 80s and 90s, where great players like patrick ewing, karl marlone, john stockton, charles barkley, reggie miller and other players played. to be called a great player doesnt mean you have exceptional talent, even if u win multiple tittles in miami, i would still rank the above mentioned players better then you, and i believe many others would as well.

btw lbj, make up your mind if u are a nba professional player or a wanna be hollywood actor. what ever he done in the last week just showed wat a spoiled child he truly is. wasting 1 hr to tell the world u are taking the easy way out is a complete fiasco

If LeBron went to Chicago he could’ve tainted Michael Jordan’s legacy coz he doesn’t a Scottie Pippen-type player or dominant big man to complement him and win titles. I don’t see Derrick Rose doing that, on account he’d rather be THE MAN in Chicago. Carlos Boozer isn’t really very dominant nor is he really durable. If it were LeBron and Amare in New York, that would’ve been more interesting! Knicks vs Heat rivalry again! Bosh vs Stoudemire, James vs Wade! Then if they reach the Finals, Wade/James vs Bryant, and Bosh/Stoudemire vs Gasol.

But let’s be realistic. LeBron has a very high chance to win in Miami. He doesn’t need to be the man. Wade admitted he needed a lot of help to win a title. Shaq was the reason Miami won it all in 2006. By signing with Wade in Miami, LeBron and Wade admitted that they need each other to win, set their egos aside, no need for squabbling over who’s the star of the team ala Bryant vs O’Neal in LA. Knicks don’t have what it takes to let LeBron win a title there. Bulls also have a great chance, but not really that great, though I’m still 50/50 on LeBron picking Miami over Chicago.

Bryant won titles in LA because of Shaq. When Shaq left town, Bryant didn’t win any titles until Gasol was given to LA as a gift via the bumbling management of the Memphis Grizzlies. Gasol isn’t an All-Star the level of Kobe, so he’s more of a complementary player.

Let’s face it. LeBron and Wade in Miami is a Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan pairing. Both are leaders in their own right. Both are THE MEN of their team. For opponents, its a pick your poison thing. Who will take the last shot? Leave either one open and you’re dead. The dark horse is Bosh, who is more of an upgraded complementary player. Showtime Lakers circa 80’s had Magic, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, All-Stars of high levels. But Magic and Kareem co-existed to lead LA to multiple titles without squabbling as to who was the star of LA.

So let’s wait and see what the 2 alpha males of Miami will do next season.

The Miami Heat’s 3 new pieces will gel nicely, just like they did in the 2008 Olympics. In fact, if you’ll remember, D. Wade was the leading scorer for that Olympic team. Lebron’s role was more as a playmaker as well as a scorer. And Bosh was tough as a defender and rebounder.

I’ll bet they talked about playing together back when they played in the 2006 FIBA world championships. Which is why they set their contracts up the same to become free agents this year. Back then it was probably just a pipe dream. But Pat Riley set it up so that the dream could become a reality. Pat talked about giving Miami a dynasty in the recent months. I believe that this was the start of his plan.

I also believe that Lebron truly did have to struggle with this decision. I imagine his main struggle was not if he wanted to go to Miami, but if he could bare to leave Cleveland, especially after promising a championship to a city starving for one.. But like he said, his mother told him to do what’s best for him. And I suspect Dan Gilbert’s comments helped him ease his pain.

I think this will turn out to be a good move for Lebron. As ppl have mentioned… Cavs weren’t making the right moves to bring in the right players to get the Cavs over the hump. Winning the regular season is one thing, but the playoffs, as everyone knows. is a different season.

‘The King’ is a nickname… ‘The Chosen One’ is a marketing slogan. It’s not that serious.

And as for the Kobe vs Lebron thing… 2 different young men in 2 different places… both are great athletes…
Kobe’s got his, and Lebron wants a few. It’s simple

Kobe has Gasol, Artest, Fish, Bynum, Odom, and a bunch of role players. Okay! I concede that!!! now tell me which on e of those players is guaranteed a Hall of Fame spot. D Wade is going to the Hall of Fame along with Lebron off of the legacy of play they produce. Now that they are together, I don’t see how lebron can be considered the great. He took the cowards way out. He can’t do it without another bonafide superstar? Without the help of a proven champion? Without two Olympic and All-Star teamates? Kobe had Shaq, sure! Why does no one realize that such a statement also means… Shaq had Kobe? In Miami Shaq needed D Wade to win. Now that Kobe has Gasol, everyone acts like it diminishes from the reality of the Lakers’ identity. Kobe is the Man on this Lakers team. Lebron is lame and as talented as he may be, he should have went to Chicago or stayed in Cleveland. Even if he went to join D. Rose, Boozer and Noah… I would still respect him for trying to lead a team. He does not have to lead in miami. Bosh, Wade and Lebron are all players who can win games for a team when the rest of the squad is coming up short. This team is too stacked. It is superstar overkill. Yet, i love that LA is still a better team. Sorry Miami! i know Lebron denied it but everyone should realize that this Heat team was assembled to dethrone Kobe and Co. Bad news: It won’t be happening on Phil Jackson’s watch. Try again in 2012. LOL!!!!!!!

Lakers will benefit immensely from the movement of great western players to the eastern conference. Balance of power is tilted towards sunrise! I’m not really happy about that scenario. Hoping for a fairly balanced teams for each conferences. On the other side, Miami is making a lot of boasting around these days.

First, the city of Cleveland has to realize that life’s not over………also they’re not the only city in the world that’s dying for a championship

Toronto fans, or at least some of them anyway, thought that Bosh’s twitter updates after the regular season ended were a little too attention grabbing and immature. That prompted most of us to prepare for his departure and when it finally happened, we didn’t have to start burning Bosh jerseys and MLSE (The Raptors owners) didn’t have to publicly get angry/emotional about it.

Personally, I was rather stunned and in a bit of a denial when Lebron made his announcement. Does he really need all that all-star help?

They’re still going to need a ‘rest of the team’ that’s going to blend in with him, Bosh and Wade.

i am big fan of LeBron as well as Dwayne. generally we all have this freedom of choice, lets just respect what they have chosen. a matter of fact LeBron isn’t a fool to be judged but he is a “king” to be appreciated. anyways lets just watch what will happen soon.

i think charles barkley and chris webber are right,he should have atleast tried to win it by himself,being the main man of his team.with him doing this and if they even win it all… it simply wont have the same flare and glamor as it should have.each guy would just be a stooge to the other.

First of all, for all the haters that say “kobe only won BECAUSE of SHAQ and pau” are losers and do not really know NBA basketball. Who was the last superstar that won without any decent backup??? Would SHAQ WON ANY RING WITHOUT KOBE OR DWADE FOR THAT MATTER??? NO! THE OPPOSING TEAM WOULDVE JUST FOULED HIM AND WATCH HIM THROW BRICKS FROM THE FT LINE. every champion won it with their teams and their greatness measured on how they made every teammate better. kobe is the best player in the nba today for many various reasons. clutch, heart, passion, drive, skills, leadership. When i saw his stone hard of the finals in game 1 of the finals to win against the celtics, sitting poker face while chris rock was trying to mock him at his side, i knew that we were gonna win back to back. Kobe’s got 6 game winners last season ALONE! i doubt lebron has 6 for his career… So all laker haters just shut up… the lakers are still the champions of the basketball world, aint no “BIG 3” can do anything about that.

Secondly, lebron’s move to miami has is his de-coronation, not that anyone outside of lebron and his once loyal “subjects” in cleveland believed that he was royalty. He went from the being the most beloved person in ohio to easily the most hated. You gotta feel for dan gilbert. His legacy is shattered because he needs to go to another star’s team to even have a legit shot to win the title. It will never be Lebron’s championship. It will be “Wade won his 2nd title with help from Lebron” Always second fiddle, never the man. That is if they will win the championship, which i highly doubt. Also, i question his loyalty. What would chicago have done if after losing to the pistons back to back MJ bolted and joined a team with a bonafide superstar like sixers with barkley or magic? What made him great was he stuck to the system, rewarded chicago’s trust with trust that they would win, and boom, 6-time champion, best player in history. Lebron will never be said in the same sentence as MJ again. He hogged the primetime limelight just to announce that he cannot win with him as the man and needed wade to win? That’s pathetic. I feel sorry for cleveland. But who knows, if lebron fails to win in miami this season, he might also bolt to go to another team. Loyalty clearly isnt in his vocabulary

Lastly, there are some winners in this lebron- wade – bosh mash-up in miami

1. Kevin Durant – Now that lbj and wade have teamed up, their numbers would surely take a hit, and with this is KD’s chance to bag the MVP trophy. He is my bet to win MVP this year

2. Chris Bosh – What has chris bosh done to merit being mentioned as a superstar? A first round exit in the playoffs in 07? obviously bosh is not a superstar and teamin up with lbj and wade has just boosted his stock from “unable to lead his team to success” to “the third member of Miami’s Superstar Trinity” Really now…

3. Kobe and the Lakers- when one team wins the championship, the target is surely placed on their back. this isnt the case for the lakers. with all the hoopla in miami, the bullseye has been shifted on miami’s back. But we laker fans know that the lakers are the defending champs… BACK-TO-BACK defending champs… the best team in the world for two years running, and with them not getting attention from opposing teams, this is the perfect situation. Just watch out.. The Black Mamba will strike come june 2011 and james wade and bosh wouldn’t know what hit them

i believe that you can only be measured to Michael by finals mvps. Rings don’t mean anything if we are talking about Michael jordan. Like all of the previous comments, it’s dwyane’s team. thus, i believe he will be the one getting the finals mvp.

To be honest I’m disappointed in his decision, sure Miami will win and be great to watch, but the question I would of asked Lebron before he made up his mind was “Where do you want to win a Championship the most?”. During the interview on ESPN he seemed real nervous and unsure, I dont believe he’s really made up his mind yet. Let’s be honest it’s a very hard decision- no matter what he chose he was going to disappoint someone; Knicks, Nets, Clippers, Bulls. I believe if he chose any of these four teams the outrage of fans would not be as high, the reason why it’s so high is because Miami’s a contender now- it kind of seems like his taking the easy way to a championship. I would of loved to see him stay in Cleaveland, but in the end it was his decision and he has to stick by it.

I am a Lebron/Kobe fan. His decision to bound Miami kept me up all night, in disagreement! Now, he will never be compared with Kobe again, let alone Jordan, even if he were to win 7 championships. Miami is Wade’s team. Would MJ occupy the same legacy if he paired up with Magic or Larry to win 10 championships? It is interesting to try to poke Lebron’s mindframe: did he make this decision because he came to realization that he would not be able to win a championship staying-put in Cleveland. Being a duo fan of both, I try to compare Lebron and Kobe. Why can’t Lebron try to prove a point like Kobe that he could win without Shaq? Instead he opted to ride the Bosh-Wade bandwagon?

narcissistic=self-promoting=LBJ
maybe he’ll win in miami but it wont be sweet. Its like team USA, we dont care who’s the leader just get the gold.
and IF LBJ dont succeed on this move. what will happen next? hope he’ll shot himself. narcissistic fool.

hahaha lots of people saying cavs didnt do anything to help lebron.. rofl (60+ wins 2 previous seasons hello???)
when cavs win its bec of lebron, when they lose its cuz of his teamates and coaching. ROFLMAO what great argument.

Lebron obviously took an easy route, not saying its necessarily bad. he just doesnt want the pressure anymore cuz he knows he might choke when that pressure-time comes. thats not greatness to me plain and simple.

and some people cant understand here which aint surprising, like comparing KG leaving Min for example. hello??? KG tried to win it in Min for most of his career, he left em cuz he was getting old and he wanted a ring… Lebron however is still 25, he should have tried winning it in Cle on his own being the “man” for couple more years. Did KG/Malone/Charles and many other legends left their team when they were that young? no. ROFL huge difference there. Miami better win the finals the next 2-3 seasons if not, more dirt/joke will be thrown at lebron LOL

i don’t care bout Miami and the rest of the league. it they won, but until they won, that remains to be seen.
everybody’s speculating now. everybody’s teaming up against the champs coz that’s the way it should be.

but until then, kobe’s smiling in the corner and telling himself, this coming season could not get any exciting. the dude is resting, getting his screws tighten, getting himself 100 % ready for the long haul. he knows this, his teammates knows this, the organization knows this. and this coming season will be one for the ages.

whatever the rest of the league does, they all do it chasing the mamba.

if la loose next season, they loose to a better team. if they 3 peat, what would that say to mamba and lakers legacy.

got great respect for dwade. but the media is way crazy with lebron? the rest of the world knows who is the real sick dude of basketball. only in the us that people are way too devided. lol.

Let lebron play. C Webber is real but never won. Barkley is jealous. You can’t make everybody happen all will forget in a couple of years. Remember KOBE charge yeah I forgot too. These are just entertainers to us they don’t care about us let them do whatever. taKE STEROIDS, CHEAT STEAL DOGFIGHT CHEAT ON WIFES WHO CARES. ARE WE NOT ENTERTAINED

Well everybody’s complaining and being emotional and missing the point. We all would have done what’s best for us in the situation cos at the end of the day it is a business, but the real problem is how it was done. The whole fanfare about ditching the cavs that way was for me a low point. i would really say this is the fault of the league and the media for letting kida grow up this way where they think they are larger than life. Everybody is complaining about what Dan gilbert said but why is that so bad if Lebron is allowed to ditch them the way he did. The process needs to change and players made to realise they are no gods..

All this hating shows that Lebron is doing something right
I dont know too much about basketball but look at Spurs (Duncan, Parker, Manu) Is Bosh a proven guy?
People are mad because of the way the did it-The players had total control over it-Dan Gilbert could’t stand it.
We live in the modern word now. We tweet. We facebook. Instantly.
LeBron is a VERY SMART BUSINESSMAN, no wonder because Warren Buffet is one of his friends!
LOYALTY——Dan Gilbert is what you get with loyalty in this business. Or the KG situation-Loyal for all those years for NOTHING. Dont forget, they will PIMP you out there, brand you, make you what you do not want to be. The FANS, the MEDIA, everybody will PIMP you if you are not careful.

So LaBron in no MJ
LaBron is no KOBE
LaBron took the easy way out
LaBron will not go down the books as one of the greatests

I’m sure being a savvy businessman he healises that

however,

LABRON IS IN TOTAL CONTROL OF HIS SITUATION, DOING WHAT HE WANTS HOW HE WANTS,
SEEKING HAPPINESS AND NOT AFRAID TO SAY SO IN A SITUATION WHERE PIMPS (ALL OF US)
WOULD LIKE TO TELL HIM WHO HE SHOULD BE AND WHAT HE SHOULD DO

GO LEBRON,
I WAS A FAN BUT NOW I’M GOING TO BE A DIE HARD LABRON FAN.

N.b look for Carmello to do the same thing and join another supertar(s)

how can someone who scores a triple double in a losing cause quit in the playoffs? what would have happened if he performed poorly the last 7 years? the mgt would cut the player. he performs at a high level and the team still doesnt win a championship. then the question would be, what does a player do when mgt. performs poorly? the player has an equal right to cut the mgt. that’s what he did.

Why are so many people trying to compare Lebron to all these NBA “legends” who played in a completely different era when mega trades and high profile free agency were not as prevalent? He was a FREE agent, meaning he had every right to do what he thought was best for him and his family. When Kobe was bitchin’ and moanin’ in LA he was never offered an opportunity remotely close to what Lebron got, besides he was already playing in the biggest market there is… L. freakin A.! Did K.G. get blasted for leaving Minnesota? Hell no! I know the T-Wolves probably couldn’t have won a high school championship at the time but bottom line is, the grass was hella green in boston, he bolted and got a ring. Shaq chased rings all over the league! Karl Malone made a last gasp in L.A. along with Gary Payton! Jordan had all the pieces he needed after 7 seasons so he was never put in this position. So many people blastin’ Lebron, nobody mentioning the firing of his coach of 7 years, fans booing them off the court though lebron played injured in a losing effort, and oh yeah Delonte West smashin’ ‘brons mom (not a rumor, do the research) didn’t help matters either. I don’t know about yall but that in itself would call for a much needed change of scenery for me. Alex is right, Lebron can’t close like Kobe. No one in the NBA can. So you really can’t blame him jumping ship to get some all star help. Ease up on the bashing people. It’s just as bad as feeding into all the Hype.

Winning is great and every true competitor in each sport wishes to feel and taste winning… but sometimes i feel that loyalty is more important than winning… Charles said it best, if he Does win a title in MIA, it will not mean as much as him winning on his own ( same goes for chris bosh , and staying in toronto) I mean, like they did there job by pairing together and creating more hype and buzz for the league then ever before… But that still doesnt mean they have what it takes to win it all…. By no means are they evn close to being hall of fame players such as the big three of boston…or Kobe, or Tim D, Park and Ginobli… and Shaq… By NO MEANS….. I think ppl need to use Tim Duncan as a PRIME example of a TRUE winner and class act in the NBA, his game may not get the espn highlights and fans drules but you know what… Solid Player and a great example of what Lebron could have been like and SHOULD have tryed to model himself after….
And for the person who said Put lebron in kobes place and theyll get 72-10…. or 82-0…. WOWWWW ( Flavor FLAV)…. Kobe is better then lebron in so many ways MENTALLY that you cant evn chart them on a stat sheet.. Lbron is MR STAT SHEET… LMAO so what does that tell you… if lebron went to the finals with his TEAM… and got swept , i mean couldnt evn win 1 game… and You have the Nerve to compare him to Kobe…MAdnesss….. all i have to say now that Lbron n wade n Cb are together is that NEXT years reg season mvp will be KEVIN DURANT….and Well Deserving of it too….100

As a die hard ball player and fan for 17 years out of 23 of my life… I have to say that WE all hate on things we dont like, and we all Love things we do. ( Miami fans going crazy, Cavs fans feeling betrayed.) I am by no means “Mad” that lbj made the decision he made , becuz at the end of the day it is his to make, not ours to approve of..( u feelme) secondly , The one thing i am slightly disapointed about is that i truly believe he could win in cleveland, i mean he took that franchise from nothing to the highest peak of the mountain. I feel that his decision(inmyopinion) was not about winning , i would agree that it was the easiest way out , to join to super all stars to go for all the glory. By no means can he be compared to True great players who stuck through thick and thin with there 1 franchise, Reggie,Michael,Karl(b4 he went to lakers),John stockton, and Yes Kobe… Now Yes kobe had shaq to win 3 in a row, but did shaq not have kobe to “help” win 3 in a row?..did he not have horry,fisher,fox,harper,grant,shaw,to “help” him win those 3?? or did he just carry Him and the Lakers to all three titles? thats unfair to say… with that being said, Yes kobe had gasol to “help” win without shaq, but who was the finals mvp of that finals vs magic? and Who was the finals mvp againest the celts?…Yes. Kobe.. Winning titles and finals mvps is more important to some players then Million dollar shoe deals and fancy commercials that only glorify your own name… Isnt a Team game about the name on the front and not on the back>?. Im cool wit lbj going there,and i dont evn care about bosh(im from Tdot.) but i would rather loose as a LEADER… then WIN as a follower… thats jus my opinion PEACE and p.s LAKERS ALL DAY…. KOBE BRYANT IS THE BEST THING NEX to the MAN THEY CALL GOD aka MJ.. 1love

charles never even won a ring…none of them cept mchale…so the rest should know their roles and shut their mouths….its a TEAM sport…kobe didnt win till some how they got pau…so all you dbags shut your holes

short cut how is seven years of your life a short cut. this is business if five years down the road his play start to slip how quick would he be put on the trade block. the owner what a fool. u didnt become majority owner 4 the children of cleveland. u see them dollars leaving your wallet.

For me the only thing that LB did wrong is., not telling the Cleveland fans in time what he was about to do. This man is intelligent enough to realise that it takes a couple of superstarts to win a championship, which cleveland fail to give him. Fore me Cleveland didn’t do enough to get him one of free agent stars this summer. The man did what he had to do by chasing his dream. LB will stay LB no mather where an whith who he plays. A perfectionist. This guy is better then Cobe. Cobe has a killer instinct that LB don’t have. Cobe don’t give a fck if he mass the game by taking bad shots after bad shots. The good thing about that is, that he have mastered those shots by taking them night in night out. Ä lot of those shots are unnecesary. cause he is surounded by great players. Paul is one of the best players in the game. This guy is a lot better than people thinks. Don’t forget the olympics. I’m an NBA fan frome Europe. For me this is very intereting to see. I can’t wait for the new season. One more thing…
No boddy is better than Jordan. Cobe is far frome being as goog as jordan. Cobe is a great shooter in these days. Jordan is the best all arround player that ever play the game in many ways.

@RAY RAY, you’ve got to be the dumbest LAKER FAN OUT THERE…!! Pau Gasol was nothing before he came to the Lakers…? Are you kidding me… Gasol is my player on the lakes, you probablly didn’t know of gasol because you only watched kobe. Gasol took memphis to the playoffs, even though he didn’t get far, he was already an allstar and dominant big man like chris bosh. Get your head out of your A%$, and stop downplaying how great Gasol is to make Kobe look better.

i didnt say that gasol was not a good player , i say that he wasn’t a better player than jamison is right now. every body say kobe win becvause of gasol , its right! but why lebron didnt do same thing with jamison??? the 2 players have the same stats !!

i take the year both payer have before come to their new team…
you see that jamison had the same line that gasol.
and dont say gasol is a dominant player nananana because yes he is right now, but did you say that back in the 2007 when nobody was talking about him?? would you say in 2007 that lakers with super gasol will make 3 final in a row ( they lose regulary on the 1st round at this time..) ??? lebron could do the same thing that kobe, building a team around him, make teamate better and leads them to the championship but he didnt.
He run awy to the most easy solution, team up with 2 big superstar to try to win.. and please dont compare gasol to wade and bosh …gasol will never be in 1 st all nba team unlike bosh and wade.
to sum up, lebron need so many thing to win One little ring… King?? ahahaha!!!! king of what?? he run away of his kingdom to became the wade’s queen.
I m not a lebron haters, i love to see him on a basket ball court, and its obvious he is talented, i just say that he is sooo overated and that he never won something except the highschool title…

nobody said anything about jamison and his stats, or about him being the equivalent to the miami big three… this is about you saying kobe made gasol good. gasol has been good, and has been the main man on a team. Jamison isn’t a big man, he’s 6’9. To win multiple championships you need a legitimate big man. Thats how all the teams that have won multiple championships have been. i can compare monta ellis stats and he has better stats then alot of players, but he wouldn’t be the piece kobe or anyone would need to win. Except for Jordan and the Bulls, jordan never had a superstar big man, he’s on a whole other level. You wanna praise Kobe now, but he’s still an overated champion compared to other champs. Go ahead and chant 5 rings… kobe got 5 rings..!!!!!! how many finals mvp’s? 2..? he doesn’t even have more than magic YET…hes got the same as bird… not to say he wont get there prob will thats just one more….how the heck is he the best laker..? he has to pass magic first… kobe didin’t make anyone better. The lakers have players that have shined on their own and are still in their prime. kobe got shaq in his prime, and got gasol when he was still young entering his prime. not to mention the level of talent of the other stars. like i said you downplay all the other lakers to make kobe look better

I know this is his decision but it was an absolutely terrible business decision. If you wanna talk bout winning let’s look at what TEAM wouldve been better for someone that wants to win! The Bulls! You have an all star PG (Rose), PF (Boozer), a SF (Deng), which I might say isnt a bad option as a fourth scorer, and an all out hustlin C (Noah). What did he get in Miami? He couldve canceled out DWade! Bosh is not better than Boozer! Deng’s 15 foot j kills! Noah rebounds, plays D, and gives his all every play! Then who wouldve stuck the beast, DRose? He completely ruined his legacy by being a follower and not a leader. Yeah! They’ll prob b fun to watch but heed my words! Miami will not WIN!

“”If Lebron James had Kobe Bryant’s team then they’d win 72-10 or 82-0.””

this make me so laugh!!! thanks!!

what make you think that please?? you just throw this sentence without argumentation like it was a fact…
Finally all the super hype on lebron is working pretty well on the blind’s mind…
Whats make you think that?? Is it because of the daily dozen of lebrons video on nba.com or the “every where i watch i see lebron, commercial, merchandising,marketing… i just have Lebron enter in my brain all the day just by watching tv…. my head gonna blow up because of all this too much hype.
But it works pretty well indeed , just watch your sheep words…
what makes you think that??
Please, can you say to me ONE thing that lebron won??
Lebron never won one single title!!!
IN THE 2004 OLYMPICS HE WAS WITH DWAYNE WADE, CARMELO ANTONY AND ALL THE BIG STAR OF THE NBA AND FAILED ONE MORE TIME. FINISHED THIRD OF THE COMPETITION!!! DIDN T EVEN MAKE THE FINAL!!!!
ADD KOBE BRYANT TO THAT TEAM AND IT WAS A GOLD MEDAL IN 2008!!!
dont forget that people began to say that he has no help in cleveland just after the elimination against boston.
Before the series, every basket analyst, commentators was saying that cavaliers was by far the best team in the nba, the much deeper with those 3 pointer shooter(moon, parker), one of the much physical team with ilkausias, g g ickson, varejo and the addition of shak and jamison and of course, with the self proclaimed king james.
Cavaliers had the best player in the best team, that was on all the commentators and professionnels nba analyst’s mouth… Charles barkley was saying that cleveland will beat boston 4-0 because nonby can guard lebron etc etc…then what happened?? Cavaliers lose and all of sudden lebron was alone, he had no help, he didn’t have good players around him…ahahahah just make me so laugh…
Think about THAT : Pau gasol was nobody before he came to the lakers, just a good and tall guy but so white and soft…
He became a top nba player AFTER he came to the lakers because kobe makes him better.
Gasol was not better than jamison when he arrived to the lakers so jamison could be the lieutenant of lebron just like gasol is the kobe’s lieutenant.But it didn’t work, once agaon its the jamison fault, lebron is never responsible.
After the 1 round of the playoff against oklaoma city,everybody was making laugh about the lakers and his so poor bench, the only 2 reliable player was kobe and gasol and all the title hope was for cavaliers and magics.
now that they won the championship every body say that lakers roster is so much better than the cavaliers one…
It so easy to say that AFTER the triumph of the lakers!!!
Don’t fool yourself by saying lebron got no team, thats false, he had one of the 3 best team in the league.
He had the team to win.
He just failed thats it… i know that all this super hype makes the failure of lebron like its impossible that the very king can’t win with a good team but its just what happened. time and time and time. with the USA without kobe in 2004, in 2008, in 2009 and again this year…
And please, dont say that “when kobe was alone in 2005-2007 he was so weak etc… Didn’t ever try to compare the”team” that had kobe in this period with the very strong and deep team that lebron have right now… put lebron in this 2005-2007 lakers team and it will make exacllty the same thing that with kobe, nothing. this team was sooo weak my god it was impressive… lebron team is the dream team compare to that one…Just watch on youtube the famous 81 points in integrality ,not to see kobe’s performance, its not the point here, but to see the incredible weakness of the kobe’s teamates in this period… you ll see why all these years he was 35 points per game and made no pass…

LeBron made a decision on whats best for LeBron,the NBA is a business.ok people when a player gets traded he have no say in the matter the organization make a decision on what is best for their franchise,and their future,it is totally unfair for people on a whole to be upset with the kid,he made a decision based on whats best for himself and his family than the NBA,I know he is goin to take a pay cut but that can be easily made up with endorsements,come on people remember we are all human LeBron is a man not a machine he has dreams of his own,when a player gets traded i don’t see fans gettin up and makin a fuss,we all make decision in life that effect people whether directly or indirectly,but in the end of it all we all must do what is best for us,after all is said and done when we are 40 and over we are the ones living with ourselvss,not the nba or the fan just our family and friends.

Good luck LeBron all the best to you and ur New team,all d best but the championship must come true the WEST
LAKERRRS

Common Lebron you can be better than that. How can you think you can win, when you lost with these guys in olympics to an inferior team. You were a king. Cleveland would have embraced you as god if you stayed and pulled over Wade to Cleveland. Such a waste. Who are you fooling around with :). Urself.

FYI, im not saying Lebron is doing anything “wrong”. Lebron has picked the team that he felt had the greatest chance to win multiple championships. And if you really thought about it, he only had 4 options. Cavs,Heat,Bulls,Knicks. He was too uncertain about the Knickts, he was tired of not advancing past the easter conference to the finals in Cleveland. The bull were probably his first pick, but once he saw Bosh and Wade he knew that with all three of them together on one team, they could create a dynasty.

What did Lebron do wrong? He made a decision that was based on the opportunity that he helped create for himself through hard work—which is exactly the example our kids need to see Mr. Gilbert (Cavs Owner). Basketball is entertainment not life and death so it needs its heroes and villans. When the Heat start winning (and I said when not if) people will jump on the bandwagon. Let’s not forget the jealousy factor in life and how everyone praises you (ala Tiger Woods) and the moment that it appears that you slip the step on you. It’s all a a part of the life of a celebrity and it comes with the territory so lets not feel sorry for Lebron but he hasn’t done anything or anybody wrong.

Lebron is entitled to do what he wants, he earned that right after staying in Cleveland for 7 years. However, I do think his decision has tarnished his image, and left a very bad taste in not only the owner, but the city of Cleveland’s mouth. He could have gone about this in a much more graceful manner. Don’t make an organization whose life depended on you for the past 7 years wait until minutes before you announce to the world your decision. He is free to do as he chooses, and I’m not mad at him for leaving, just wanted to see him win as “the man” and go down as one of the greatest to do it ever. I believe he could have done it in Cleveland with some minor adjustments, but I believe he just truly was ready to leave. Comparing him to Kobe is unfair, Kobe is a proven great already, just like you can’t compare Kobe to Jordan, you cannot compare Lebron to Kobe, different players in different eras.

Everyone some words which is not required for the said topic. It’s not the comparison of Wade, nir Kobe, and Lebron. The topic here is Lebron’s decison on which team he should go forth. I think he ( Lebron ) just want to have a taste of some reliable and A listed team mates which you should understand in the ways of boston’s big 3 and also the pieces of Lakers.

And dont forget, Kobe is not originally from LA… He is from Charlotte… ^_^

Kobe was born in Italy, went to high school in the greater Philadelphia area and was drafted by Charlotte but never played for the Hornet because the Lakers traded Vlade Divac to them to get him. Get your facts straight.

There’s something many, many people seem to forget, or just don’t understand to begin with. Nobody wins a title with a bunch of scrubs. This includes Michael Jordan whom played with Scottie Pippen his entire career, and always had the best supporting cast. Shaq, “The man” had a young Kobe and again, a great supporting cast. So while people are quick to knock Kobe for having a great team, you might as well knock every team to ever win a NBA title. Because they were all great teams. NOBODY does it alone.

this is a TEAM SPORT! why are so many of you bent on him having to do everything by himself? LeBron is an awesome dude, not only because he’s an athletic freak, but mostly because he doesn’t play basketball just to be the best player… he wants to be a part of the best TEAM. Its not about getting the most money & glory, or being a “hero” to any particular city. He just wants to win championships. And now we’ve got history in the making in Miami, baby!

Ahhhh! Another Heat fan drinking that Kool-Aid about the money he is giving up. Lebron is chasing fame, except he wants to take the fast lane to get there, as if we aren’t WITNESSES. Typical of this generation who thinks they are owed something. He thinks he is the King because, well, just because. And he wants wants all of us to IGNORE how he doing it. Well Sorry LeChump, We are WITNESSES. We are WITNESSES to you not being able to lead the team that won more teams in the league the last two seasons to a championship. We are WITNESSES that you couldn’t handle to pressure of leading a team and are running from the heat to the Heat to hook up with other Super-Stars to win championships. Yes We are WITNESSES.

I don’t care what Lebron and the Heat do, next year the Lakers are winning another title. After that, let Lebron TRY to do what Kobe or even his running mate DWade has done. Kobe, 2 threepeats, YES, after next year. Wade, a championship as “The Guy.” Lebron is indeed the most talented player in the game, yet he has a long way to go to reach his full potential. And Cleveland, I’m really sorry for what your team will now become. A bottom feeder .

To all you guys commenting here, I just want to say that you don’t have the right to say what a superstar should do and should not. i bet no one in this thread has been in the limelight or situation superstars have been, so stop acting like you know it all and you know what’s the best decision to make.

and stop bringing out the past please! and stop mentioning MJ wouldn’t have done this, Barkley wouldn’t have done that. simply because YOU ARE NOT THEM!!! are you psychics now? you can read minds? and just because no basketball player has ever done what LBJ did (go to a title contender at his prime) doesn’t mean he’s doing something wrong. this is just giving more proof that people are reluctant and afraid of change. it’s making you look like Father Pat calling a foul, no, 2 fouls, after seeing Jackie Moon toss an alley-oop to Coffee Black.

For all of you guys who are comparing Lebrons recent actions to the Boston Big 3. Know this… KG, and Ray Allen were past their prime and glory days. they played hard for their teams, and like Charles was saying they tried to win it “alone” it didn’t work. And if u look at the Celtics from before the Big 3 came together, Celtics were trash. Now when ur talking about the Miami heat and wade , who have already won a championship. Your talking about 3 guys who are IN their primes. Your talking about Lebron James, the best individual player in the league, and a young Chris bosh. If Lebron had stayed for maybe 3-4 more years with the cavs he would have won one. The Heat made the playoffs with Wade alone, and won the championship with SHaq and other role players. In reality all the heat needed was Chris Bosh. LEbron coming there is great for the franchise sure, but i cant see the heat winning any championships. he should have came to Chicago.

Yeah its so funny how everyone thinks that Kobe’s “the man” right now. How quickly all of you laker fans forget that this man was a goat who couldn’t win without Shaq Diesal. Now that he’s won 2 supposedly on his own those 1st 3 technically don’t count with the Diesal so do you discount them? No. Because Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Ron Arstest, Lamar Odom, and faithful Fisher are eqivalentl to the level of a Broken down Shaq pushing 40, Jamison (breaking down at 35),Verajo(or however you spell his name guarding KG which is why they fired Coach Mike Brown) and choking in the playoffs Mo Williams. Sir Charles says it all the time “If Lebron James had Kobe Bryant’s team then they’d win 72-10 or 82-0.” Let’s face it Cleveland would be the same washed up team this year that can have the best record in a season like Phoenix used to and then fall apart in the playoffs because the organization couldn’t cough up enough doe to sign players to match-up better against the Celtics, Magic, and Lakers.

Nobody faulted Shaq when he left a top 3 team in Orlando to join the Lakers(leaving Penny Hardaway a.k.a. “the next Magic”and Horace Grant still ballin’). Nobody faulted KG or Ray Allen for doing the same thing to join Paul Pierce in Boston? As a matter of fact I don’t hear people even saying its Paul Pierce’s team anymore but Rondo’s!!!Lebron’s a basketball historian with a terrific basketball I.Q. he simply has learned from his peers and predecessor’s mistakes like Reggie Miller, Charles Barkely, Karl Malon, John Stockton, Dominique Wilkens, Mitch Richmond, Patrick Ewing, and C-Webb (and the list goes on)to be smart enough to leave now and not wait until he’s at the end of his career to do “exactly” what some of these same hypocrites ended up doing anyways. Join forces and take a paycut to win championships. Just because they waited until they were broken down doesn’t excuse them from doing the same thing.Lebron was simply smart enough to do it earlier while he’s still got his legs. And technically since Lebron came out when he was 18 and not 22(which would make him 29 the same age Michael Jordan won his 1st) people forget he tried for 7 seasons in Cleveland!!!! When his career is over and he has a half a dozen or so rings nobody will care who he played with. JUST ASK BILL RUSSELL!!!!!!!!!

are you a fan are do you just like to read the garbage you write… shaq would not have won the 3 rings in LA with KOBE… remember the series against portland shaq fouled out lakers down by 15 going into the 4th.. then KOBE did what he did… so guess what … contrary to your crazy belief Kobe has 5 legitimate rings not 2… bron has no rings whatso ever… Stop comparing Kobe and bron… no comparison… wade is closer than bron… helll wade has 1 ring and 1 finals MVP… so again Kobe 5 rings 2 MVP’s…Wade 1 ring 1 MVP,,, the King 0 rings 0 finals MVP…

I think the point you are missing is that all the guys you mentioned who changed teams in pursuit of a championship never left from a position of being batman to being robin. NONE of those guys left when they were regarded as the best player in the league to join a team with arguably the next best/3rd best player in the league AND another all-star. Shaq left and still was the man, the other players left after their prime. And Boston is definitely still Paul Pierce’s team, who are you giving the ball to in the 4th q. RONDO or Pierce, c’mon. Lebron can do what he wants you are right, but, he will be regarded differently in history because of this decision.

Also, using Charles Barkeley as proof for making a point is like not making a point at all. How many times has that guy been wrong? and how many rings did he ever win?

Hey old school – if you were a REAL basketball fan you would stop hating on Kobe. Do your research old dog, he’s legit in every aspect of the game. I agree with everything you said after your first sentence, but you shot yourself in the foot by dogging Kobe. MJ wasn’t nearly as impressive a player in his early NBA days as Kobe and MJ was more mature as a player and a man. Kobe was 17 when he was drafted, LeBron was 18, neither went to college let alone a great basketball school like UNC nor did the play for great coaches like Dean Smith before entering the league. These two guys are straight up raw talented players. MJ went through the refiner’s fire before he stepped on an NBA floor and it took him a while to win the first title with his team. Of the 3 of them, Kobe got there the quickest. Shaq was the dominant player on the first championship team, Kobe contributed significantly on the second championship and he carried the team on the third if you look at the stats. Shaq was a beast in the playoffs but Kobe was the “go to” man on their third championship team. I’m not saying MJ wasn’t great, he was, but he also had a different basketball upbringing compared to Kobe or LeBron. LeBron will never have as many championships as Kobe in my humble opinion. Russell is arguably the GOAT of we just look at championships and defensive stats.

First of all Jamison is 33 years old is a two time All-Star and was averaging 20.5 pts/game. Secondly when Shaq left Orlando he left to be in LA not for a superstar to win him a championship. There was no Phil Jackson and Kobe was coming off the bench as a rookie. Like someone check your garbage before you post.

I am tired of everyone bashing Lebron. Everyone always talks about how selfish todays athletes are,and what big ego’s they have, and all they care about is the money. Well these two guys decided they wanted to win championships, money was not the issue. Plus they both had to put their ego’s aside, apparently Lebron’s Legacy is not more important than winning championships to him. What everyone wanted him to be the next Karl Malone, Charles Barkley or Patrick Ewing. We all know what there Legacy’s are, sorry I think he did what he thought was best to him. I believed that he really wanted to stay in Cleveland, but at the end of the day, he felt like it was not going to be his best opportunity to win without another super star to help him. Remember everyone said the same thing about Karl Malone when he left and went to the Lakers, they said he was riding on Kobie and Shaq’s coat tail to try and win a ring. Lebron just put winning first to make his decision, is that not what everyone says should be the most important thing. Lebron keep your head up, you guys will win multiple championships. Good Luck

Wow! look how everyone had forgotten.. that Lebron took his team to the championship in hes second year.. The team had the best record in the NBA two straight years and always made the playoffs. I feel the Cleveland management did not do a better job in building a championship team around Lebron. 7 years and the only other premier player you bring is an old Shaq? Thats not what you do if you want to win. Ok Cleveland is a small market team but you have to make smarter moves. You relied on Lebron to do it by himself. Look at the owner Gilbert and other Cleveland fans burning jersey’s. you guys spit in that man’s face and he will never come back to Cleveland. Let’s say he has a five year deal after which he could return to Cleveland. Ya’ll killed all hopes of that. Cleveland fans and the owner should’ve wished him well and hoped he will come back to finish his career where he started. Ya’ll didn’t make Lebron. Lebron made the Cavs relevant again and I see the owners only cared about the Lebron economics and not the man himself. I’m glad he is in Miami… maybe he can see what is like to have a real team.. real teammates who want to win instead of wanting him to win it for them. and most important real fans who will not be upset after he leaves once his contract is up.

I’m not hating on Lebron for wanting a championship ring, but I have to say that I agree with everyone who said he is now a follower not a leader. If nothing else, if he had of stayed at Cleveland and brought the 2 of them with him, at least he can say this is his team and his stock and respect would have went up. I’m disappointed because I’ve always said that he is one of the most selfish players that I’ve seen and I’ve watched bball for over 40 years. It has always been about him. Larry Bird, Magic and Michael’s organizations built around them. The same thing for (as someone said – Cry Baby Kobe). That is the way that it should be. They brought Pau to Kobe, Kobe didn’t go to Memphis to play with him. These people were and are franchise players and were so competitive that they didn’t go some where else to win championships. That is what franchise players do. The city of Cleveland and the organization did everything in the world they could think of to keep him. The fan’s filled the arena and kept from picking up other players (or having the chance) to pick up other players waiting for him. I heard they built a practice facility for LeBron amoungst other things.

Anyways, even if he gets a ring or 2 or 7, I don’t think people will rejoice about it like they would if he had of stayed in cleveland, or went to a team that didn’t have 2 strong superstars. The only city of course that wins with this is Miami. Basketball on the east won’t be as fun because there are only maybe 4 contenders (Boston, Miami, Chicago, and Orlando) in that order. Boston is keeping their team mostly in tact which is what Cleveland was hoping for. Lebron and his team just choked in the Semi’s. That happens. Experience sometimes brings more wins which is why Boston was able to outplay them. Lebron had 2 – 60 win seasons. Come on, not too many teams in history has that. Any, I really like DWade as a player and I’m glad he got a ring with Shaq but I won’t root for Miami with Lebron. What a sellout to build all of those fans in Cleveland hopes up and not even have the respect to tell them thankyou for the 7 years.
Hopefully they have a classification for Hall of Famers for followers. He will be in the hall of
Wow…….

Lebron is going for that triple double average, his points will drop maybe to 22 – 24 his rebounds will increase 10.2 – 11 and his assist will sky rocket to 14, yes, 14! Ok bear with me, in Cleveland he was throwing assist everywhere but his team didn’t have… uhh… let’s say a guaranteed finisher heading to the rack, just a bunch a shooters scared to take a hit really, mediocre shooters at best. But now in Miami with proven strong finishers who are also pretty decent shooters, willing passers, just superstars basically.

Basketball is played from the inside out. No team has won without an above average or exellent Center
Boston Bill Russell, Cowans, Robert Parish, Kevin Garnett Los Angeles Kareem, Shaq, Pau
Chcago, Cartwright, Weddington, Milwaukee Kareem
Detroit Laimbeer, and Wallace Philadelphia, Malone, Seattle Sicma, San Antonia Robinson, Duncan New York
Reed, Houston Hakeem Miami Shaq. My point is outside of David Stern dictating how the games are officiated to win a championship you must have a good or above average center and good point guard.

10 CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH THE HEAT ARE EQUVIALLNT TO 3 IN CLEVELAND, NEW YORK AND IN CHICAGO.
LEBRON CAN WIN 15 RINGS IF HE WANTS WITH THE HEAT BUT HIS DECISION TO PLAY WITH BOSH AND WADE WILL HAUNT HIM FOREVER, HE “”CHOOSE”” THE EASY WAY OUT. BYW I’M STILL WAITING FOR THE NEXT JORDAN.

What don’t you like about Kobe? And please don’t give me a bunch of opinionated crap. Do some research and talk stats…I think you will find that the heir to the legacy MJ left behind is playing in LA and competing for and winning Championships just like MJ. The only difference is when it is all said and done, Kobe will have played in more FINALS than MJ…the question is will he retire with as many or more championships. That will be the tie-breaker. And what about Bill Russell? Are Jordan or Kobe as good or as dominant as he was? In his case, they may have the stats, but he definitely has the rings…

First of all lets get things straight its true that Kobe NEVER would have won the 5 championships he has without Shaq and Pau but hey, NEITHER WOULD THEY!! They NEEDED Kobe as much as he needed them. Its as simple as that, without Pippen where would Jordan be without Stockton where would Malone be and so on and so forth. Let us not forget that Shaq had one of the best players in the NBA at the time in the person of Penny to help him but still couldn’t cut it at Orlando, so people need to be objective and SENSIBLE in their analysis. Great partnerships have been a defining quality of the NBA in the past and will continue to be an ever present factor in the future, so consider the facts and stop hating blindly

That being said for all of Lebron’s seven years at Cleveland he didn’t have anything near the partnership of Kobe and Shaq (at his prime) or Jordan and Pippen etc or any of the other great teams in NBA history and the likelihood of that changing in the coming season was minimal given the amount of wiggle room that the Cavs had/have with respect to cap space and who was not only available but also “worthy” and willing to to play with the “King” in Cleveland.

Now I’m totally against dismissing role players on any team or ANY NBA player for that matter they all worked hard to get where they are and the likes of Kobe, Lebron, Wade etc don’t play by themselves, they need help. Last time i checked the game is still played 5 on 5 and lets not forget that this Cavs team that “wasn’t good enough” had the best record in the league for two straight seasons and that didn’t happen by accident. To not give the WHOLE TEAM credit is an insult to them quite frankly, after all Lebron can’t pass the ball to himself and put in his own assists can he? Yes they lost to a very experienced Celtics team and that is partly down to match up problems but also in large part down to the mentality of the team and particularly their “KING”, It ‘s the same Celtic team they split their meetings with (2 games a piece) in the regular season but when that extra intensity and commitment was needed they failed to deliver and that has to rests with the team and their “LEADER”.

Now I’m neutral on this issue and I just want to give an objective point of view and I hate to say it but on paper the prospect of playing with Wade and Bosh was simply a better sell from a strictly basketball point of view. To those aggrieved fans (and understandably so) who say he has taken the easy route to a championship I don’t agree. Sure he has two other superstars to help him carry the load but that doesn’t guarantee a title but it does ensure that the burden isn’t all on his shoulders and he can afford to have an off day and that he’ll get to play the game at a very high level. In an era where there’s so much hype in sports isn’t it a bit refreshing to see a superstar sacrifice some of his shine and money in order to form a great team and win? And at the end of the day if was a decision HE had to make for HIMSELF and no one else. So ultimately in my opinion the decision itself can be viewed as good (by Miami fans) or bad (by all of Ohio probably) and will most likely and unfortunately be debated for years.

HOWEVER, the manner in which the decision was made and announced was WRONG, ALL WRONG and that is what the real issue is about. The decision to televise it was ridiculous and totally unnecessary. To have an hour long event for a 30 second answer in which he left his die hard home town fans jaded was a BAD BAD move. Say he really didn’t know where he was going till the day of or the day before the announcement, then why broadcast it to the nation, why not have a heartfelt meeting with the Cavs, man up and tell them face to face and let the people who “loved” him the most know first and in a respectful manner. Although probably not intended the way he went about “the decision” has made him come off as egotistical, self indulgent, arrogant and dare I say it a bit heartless quite frankly. And to leave it so late that the Cavs have little or not options to get any decent player(s) was another bad move.

Now all that remains in the aftermath is for him to win a title within a year, at most two or this could turn out to be the worst choice of his NBA career and his life.

As far as the MJ comparisons go, NO ONE will ever be like him. Players will make their own paths and legacies but MJ will always be considered the greatest player, maybe not for all eternity but at least for the foreseeable future.

You guys keep making comments about what lebron did, you guys its not about you, its this guys life and what he does in his life should not affect yall because you guys are acting so immature about his choice please support the guy and lets see what happens. I predict the new NBA season will be crowning a new Champion next season so sit back and watch and be mature about it instead of acting like the cleveland cavs owner.

Sure. I would want him to stay at Cleveland but the burden was too much to handle. If he stayed for at least one more season and still failed to win a ring, man, that pressure is going to eat him up, seriously. If Jordan was offered by Ewing to join NYK after 3 straight exits from the post-season due to Detroit’s bad boys, he would join him without a heartbeat and could have built a solid dynasty there. The free agents today weigh much heavier than free agents before. Dynasties before were made out of experience and development such as the Bulls as they waited for the then young Pippen to develop into an All-Star. Today, everybody takes shortcuts.
EX:
1. After 2 disappointing finals appearance, Clyde bolted with the Blazers to chase his dream with the Rockets.
2. Ray Allen and Garnett got their championship dreams with Boston together with Pierce.
3. Even Karl Malone bolted the Jazz but too bad he came short. I really felt bad for him.
Betrayal? I don’t think that’s the right word. Cleveland kept LeBron for business purposes. Oh sure they’ve built a team around LeBron but they are old dudes. C’mon. Shaq and Jamison? What will happen if 1-3 years from now if still they haven’t won any rings? Those old dudes will retire for sure. I do love Shaq and Jamison but the move was not right. Stoudemire would have been a great addition but it was not realized. When Boston formed the big three, everybody was praising them. Do you know why? Those guys are on their 30’s and perhaps they’ll only have 1-4 years chasing that ring because it is inevitable that one of them will retire early as the other two. They’ve won one which is great. Everybody’s scared if Miami now. The three of them are still on their 20’s and they will dominate the NBA for at least the next decade. And Dan Gilbert, your true colors did show up. Shockingly, a very bitter man.
‎”I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE”
– Dan Gilbert(Cavs Majority Owner)

With this statement, NOT a single big time free agent now or in the near future would desire to play for Cleveland. Nobody wants to carry the burden which LeBron left the Cavs.

Sure. I would want him to stay at Cleveland but the burden was too much to bare.

**** ANY NBA FAN MUST READ VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE IN THIS ARTICLE ******* ( SAD DAY 4 true NBA Fans)

1st off let me start by saying I DONT EVER wanna hear LBJ23 mentioned in the same sentence as JORDAN & KOBE and this is why:

– True no one wins the ship by themself MJ had Pippen , rodman, and a long list of very good players, role players but at the end of the day it was MJ who propelled everybody’s game to make them that much better ,

– Kobe for whatever reason is one of the most hated/disliked LEGENDS of all time. People say b.s. like he had Shaq, well actually Shaq had Kobe just as well look at Shaq and wat he has done w/ other premier wing players ( penny hardaway , d-wade , lbj23 ) outside of D-Wade’s heroic finals MVP Shaq as great as he was wouldn’t have any championships w/out KOBE & D- WADE

– Kobe now the 2nd time around people still hate and criticize his game w/ this b.s. about GASOL. Let’s get this straight. Gasol when in memphis was a average player w/ star ability. Gasol never did anything as much as lead the GriZZ to the playoffs, or anything and now that Gasol has developed into one of the Elite big men now , people wanna give credit to Gasol for KOBE’s 2 rings. SORRY must call B.S again on that. it was KOBE BRYANT’S ability as a leader and as OUR GENERATION”S MJ that took GASOL, ODOM, ARTEST, and the rest of the LAKERS roster to the promise land now which I believe will be another 3 PEAT

– Now LBJ23 to me I find this as a very saddening story. THe guy undoubtabley provided wonders for the CAVS. NO question about that LBJ gave his heart and his all to win for the CAVS franchise. He took that franchise from a bunch of losers to relevant in the NBA.
– The sad part of the story as LBJ ” SOLD HIS SOUL” for the all elusive RING. He will never to me be worth mentioning as THE GUY to bring a team a title. Had LBJ gone to BUlls, Knicks, CAvs or any other franchise and brought them a RING that would be a feel good success story as the kid who became the KING and won the RING
– NOw undoubtabley this is a very talented HEAT team now having the leagues 2nd & 3rd best player on the same team combined w/ BOSH who is not far behind, will have a real shot every year at the title ( Which IN ANY SCENARIO WOULD BE HARD TO TURN DOWN UNLESS LBJ WAS TRULY ABOUT GREATNESS AND LEGACY, lbj took the express lane to a ring n return for GREATNESS TRULY A SAD SCENE

– All that being said LBJ , BOsh , & D- Wade will be throwing lobs back n forth crushging the opposition but at end of the day KOBE has something that LBJ and Wade don’t and this year will end w/ LAKERS winning RING again.

– FINAL THOUGHT
– No one is to blame but the CAVS organization, a GIFT was placed in your franchise lap and you did nothing as an organization to bring LBJ some help. LeBron gave you 7 years and the best you could provide LBJ was an old SHAQ
SORRY u should have traded for AMARE this past season and MAYB CAVS would still have LBJ but CAVS fans you have no one to blame but the CAVS organization

– NOw LBJ will never have more rings than KOBE or D-Wade and traded in his MJ status to be PIPPEN

First off let me say this so what lebron went to the heat whats the big deal everybody hating when shaq left Orlando back in the day to go play in LA and he still is one of the 50th Greatest players Garnett left Minnesota to win a ring And now you saying you cant compare him to kobe you right you cant they play 2 different positions Lebrons a great player and thats all that matters if lebron would have went to anybody else favorite team they would have been on the bandwagon hard Anyways Lebron is still gonna make it to the hall of fame Lakers still have a dream team Boston still has a dream team and other teams have to do something to make up for it and Miami made a move to get the best player in the league so Damn people just get it over with

When Shaq left to go to LA there was not another mega superstar that was there to accompany him which is why Kobe had to work hard to win without Shaq. Because that was Shaq’s team like the way this is Wade’s team in Miami.
Only now that Kobe has won two with his team…that that looming shadow can be lifted. We’re talking about how legends are formed in this league son and he just ruined his chances for his Legendary status.

Brandon – the only argument I have with your comment is you don’t have all of your facts together. I was born and raised in LA. The Lakers have been my favorite team since i started watching basketball…I’m 50, so I know a little something about the team and what I’m about to say. The third championship Kobe and Shaq won together, they shared the leadership of the team. In fact, Kobe was the most productive player on the team that season. Shaq was dominant in the playoffs, but it was Kobe that was the “go to” guy. The transition to a Kobe only team was similar to the way the team was when Shaq first arrived. Kobe was great, he was still a bit raw and immature as a player, but he was great. Shaq would not have won any of those rings without Kobe, but the 3rd one they won together, Kobe did the heavy lifting my brother…check the books. After playing a couple of years with some good but mostly average support players, he became frustrated and in his immaturity went public about his desire to be traded if the Lakers did not bring in some quality talent to play with him. Being the great owner that Dr. Buss is, he did just that and Kobe did not have to leave. But he would have left if Buss and his management team had not brought in some great players. Wherever Kobe would have landed he would have been the best player on the team…he’s been the best player in the league for quite some time and even if that team had had a “superstar” it would have become Kobe’s team. Some players are just alpha dogs like that…but it ain’t braggin or arrogant if you can back it up. I don’t know if LeBron is wired like Kobe or MJ, or Magic or Bird, or Shaq or Duncan, but we will now get to see. D-Wade is the current alpha dog of the Heat but there is nobody there like LeBron. Pierce was the alpha dog of the Celtics until KG got there. Pierce is still the leader, he’s just a different kind of leader now. We’ll see if those guys can make the necessary adjustments that will allow them to have success.

I’ve honestly sat back and watched ignorant comments spew on this site for quite sometime.

Everybody (Users) thinks they know something, or have the correct analysis for certain players and teams.

“Kobe isnt that great because he had the help of…(insert name here).”

I swear, I start to wonder if Jordan actually played with teammates… He won 6 Championships 1 on 5??? Thats the way you all make it seem. Jordan had just as much help as Kobe, AND had the 2nd best player IN THE LEAGUE on his team in Scottie Pippen. Pippen put up big games quite often, even though he played second banana.

And then everybody seems to forget Jordan had great role players too. Rodman, Grant, Kukoc, Harper (once coined the “next”)…And so on. Those players stepped up.

I’ll never take away from a man because he “had help” because NOBODY in the history of this league has done it alone.

Jordan eventually got those players placed in t team to keep winning. Like I’ve said before on here. Pippen developed to be a Hall of Famer. We’re talking about 3 allstars that just decided to create their own team and cripple two other franchises in the process. If Cleveland saw this coming then they would have traded the sucker for some decent pieces versus not gettting anything at all. You talk all mighty like you know it all man but you don’t. Of course Kobe and MJ all had help but they got their championships through blood and sweat and never piggy backed on other stars by leaving the team that drafted them. Do you even play ball son?

Be.Water…I’m drinking the Kool-Aid bro. Many of the comments on this blog sound like people are hitting the bong heavy regarding this whole LeBron thing. And the comments regarding Kobe not being comparable to MJ are a joke too! If you study the game and do some research, you will discover that this ain’t your daddy’s NBA. The players are much more talented and therefore, individuals get a lot more attention. But the bottom line is that it truly does take a TEAM to win the championship. LeBron showed that one great player can get close, but the Spurs showed him and the rest of the NBA that one great player can’t beat a very good team in the FINALS…actually the Spurs had a great team and they proved it by sweeping LeBron and the Cavs.

BrandonID – There is something to be said about staying with one team your whole career if you are the marquis player; however, if you want to win multiple championships you better hope your organization has a championship mentality and the smarts to get you the right support/help to get it done. This does not appear to be a strength for Cleveland’s management. LeBron is a smart kid. He watched KG toil away in Minnesota for years before he finally said, it is not going to happen for me here. He goes to a franchise with a championship mentality that also knows how to get it done and shazaam! KG, R Allen and the Truth all have ONE ring now. They may not get another one due to age. LeBron doesn’t want to wait that long and can you blame him…really? He’s 25, been in the league 7 years, same team, sniffed the Championship once, no ring, and the Cavs did not even get to the the Conference Finals. Sure, they had the best record in the league but that doesn’t matter in the Playoffs. Why do you think the Lakers and Celtics have more than half of all of the NBA Championships ever won between them? It is because the organizations have championship DNA, they know how to get it done. Oh, Pat Riley won championship(s) with the Lakers as a player and coach, maybe he knows a little something about how to get that done and he has an owner that trusts him to put the right pieces together.

In order for LeBron to win a ring, somebody great, in their prime, was going to have to join him in Cleveland. Have you ever been to Cleveland? Not the place you want to spend the winter if you are a young man in your 20’s and 30’s. LeBron tried to get some star talent to come but only a beat down Shaq (and I love Shaq) and an overrated Jamison were willing to go. Give LeBron some credit…he got outta Cleveland while the gettng was good. He could have a career ending injury practicing in the gym tomorrow and never fulfill his dream. It could happen before he plays a game with his two buddies in Miami, but now he will have a real chance to compete for a ring with some guys who know how to win and an organization that knows how to put a championship team together. I feel bad for Cleveland’s fans, it’s not their fault their city is not attractive.

If you have ever competed in sports at a high level (and I have), you ALWAYS want to win and winning a championship is ALWAYS the most important goal. What makes it even sweeter is when you can play with people you really enjoy being around and you experience success with them as a TEAM. In sports, it doesn’t get any better than that. I applaud LeBron for making a big boy decision…I guarantee you it was difficult for him to finally say I’m leaving and there is no guarantee he will win in Miami, but he has a much better chance to win a ring today than he did yesterday. The problems he has now are: 1) the elite teams in the East all got better this off-season, 2) the Heat still needs to recruit and sign some good quallity players to help him and his pals make it through the regular season without getting hurt, and 3) and this is big…the Lakers have the best player in the world right now (5 rings), his team just got a little bit better too, and oh yeah, they just won their 2d consequtive NBA Championship with a injury plagued team that has all summer to heal…they are looking forward to playing whoever comes out of the East to try and take their Title…Good luck LeBron, Chris and Dwayne, the Celtics, Bulls and Magic want to dance with you first.

HEY… we are in a new era where you can not win championships by yourself… the 2 man superstars era are over…move on guys!you must simply analyzed the facts… do you think lebron can win championship being the only superstar…?we are not in an era of all-stars…we are in the level of superstars… do you think lebron can pass the celtics if all he celtics superstars are healthy?i dont think so… having the big four and a solid bench who can shoot and defend… the magic who is also a title contender inspite of having an allstar cast is still improving is lineup… lebron only wants to try it early in his career…there are many superstars in the past – legends may say…but didnt have a title… and you are a great player today but some says in the future where are your proof?do you have a ring…?and the lakers inspite of having kobe he needs the help of gasol,odom, and artest… and besides that you have the most winniest coach in nba history to lead you…

Stop comparing LBJ and Kobe with MJ. MJ was the best and will be forever, there won’t be any player to top that. I never heard lebron or kobe talking about they are better. Now lebron worked hard for 7 years, and when it mattered the most, he was the only one playing consistent all the teammates choked big time. Mo williams couldn’t make his shots(nervous?), delonte west stabbed him in the back. He just wants to win the championship and if you can do that with two great players and friends why not? It was wrong of him to announce it like that. Letting everybody wait like the lottery even i was watching and i live in Holland. He should’ve thought more about the cleveland fans. I can understand if fans hate him for the way he told the news, but you can’t hate him for the decision, because it was his to make. Stop hatin and support your team, move on. And no..i’m not a clevelandfan. NUGGETS!!!
Peace!!

Pooh, pooh the only time any one cares what the old stars have to say is when a new emerging or current star does something “different”. Dennis “Three D” Scott put forth this type of scenario weeks ago was any of these guys listening to the Hang Time PodCast? If Nash, Notwitki and Gasol attempted the same merging of talents would they get as much condescending yah-yah. The Laker’s await all challengers, Boston ain’t going nowhere, The Spurs will retool. The league will be very interesting next year.

oh come on! kobe wins because of pau? how about when they lost in 2008, u said that pau is so soft… u guys dont have a coomon sense saying that lebron doesnt have a good teammates, the cavs did a lot and gave him allstars like mo williams, antawn jamison, and shaq then u said they are not good for some risons? blah blah blah.. Even Michael Jordan wins the title because he had supporting cast like scottie pippen, great shooter steve kerr, ron harper, dennis rodman then wat do u col them? are they not good enough to compare with the other players? oh come on! face the fact that those guys like bird, jordan, magic johnson, kobe and etc wins more championship w/ good teammates but lebron never did even if he had good teammates… Let’s see if they win the title coz celtics and orlando wud not let it happen so easy. and if they did not win then sorry for lebron coz he had now a very good teammates take note very good not just a good but still cudnt win it…. blah blah blah

LeBron, Wade & Bosh can win a championship or two in the future as long as they play just as well as Pierce, Garnett & Allen. Miami’s “Big 3” will all be happy when they finally touch the thropy and bathe on champagne. Lebron & Bosh will be happy but not as happy as Dwane Wade. Miami made a brilliant move assembling a team for DWANE WADE by luring Lebron & Bosh.

Yeah sure, it may be inevitable for Lebron to get a ring in Miami with some help. As history tells, Jordan had Pip & Rodman, Magic had, well, a lot of great teammates just like Larry, Celtic’s BIG 3, Shaq & Kobe, Kobe, Pau & Fish, then Duncan, Parker & Manu – these were the usual combination in a championship team. But in Miami, DWANE WADE, not LBJ, has the right teammates because he’s the guy in Miami.

Maybe it wasn’t a bad decision anyway for Lebron because the new trio may eventually get a championship. But it would definitely be much sweeter if Lebron would have tried his best to win a championship in Cleveland.

people are crazy…… magic didnt do it by himself he had worthy and kareem….. bird he didnt do it by himself either he had mchale parrish….. mike he did it by himself no no wait he had pippen grant rodman….. kobe had shaq…. lost shaq then out ousted by suns then got giftwrapped gasol who was a budding star on a unknown team…… when the big three in boston got together everyone praised them for scracifises to make it work here bosh/wade/james do the same thing and we critize them get real people…..

now miami is expected to win at least three championships very soon with these three guys on board (one for each, 2nd for wade) – “one for all and all for one” as the three musketeers would say. more power more expectations. if they fail, people might be tempted to call them three stooges!

I am verydissapointed in Lebron James. He took the easy way out. Any team with any coach could compete for a title if you put three all start starters on a team. People are saying he is noble for taking a pay cut. That is so rediculous. What is a couple million dollars that he will make up in endorsements.He is not even the best player on his team in the 4th quarter. he will never be in the kobe/Jordan category.Can you imagine if Kobe got a third all star starter. Example Carmello anthony. Ofcourse they would win the title but it would not have the same signifigance of a title you had to build and work for. The Lakers had to fight and claw for these two titles. I think if they win 3 in a row that will only be equivalent to 1 title. I am not a hater at all I just believe there should be a respect for the game. A level playing ground. Lebron is a poser and a fake. Could you imagine jordan saying hey Pippen lets team up with Ewing or Robinson and lets take lets money.Thats and unfair advantage. P.S. Lets see how long befor Shaq is on the heat to steal a 5th title.

I agree with chris webb on that one no more arguing between jordan and lbj

If lbj would have been a great story he was REALLY close in cleveland and is not like he was alone u can’t win 60 games plus 2 seasons in a row and being a bad team if he would have stayed in cleveland all the glory the gold the fame the credit would have been his but now it will never be his he doomes himself and theleague in one single stupid move

these guys are a bunch of hypocrites!!if they were in the same situation as lebron they would have done the same thing.He did the smart thing because he wanted to win and win now and Miami was the best choice for him.He didnt want to end up like these commentators Bitter old has beens that never won.

No matter what kind of argument you attempt to bring to the table in LeBron’s favor, he will never again should be termed or mentioned as “The King” that he proclaims he is. He markets himself as a king and as “the chosen one” but what was he king of? Cleveland? He wasn’t the king of the NBA, that’s for sure. I’ve never heard of a championship trophy being handed out for the regular season record. So how does that make him a king?
ESPN titles their article “Miami lands a king”. Give me a break! LeBron is no Michael, no Larry, no Magic, and even no Kobe. For all that is said about Kobe having Gasol, I think that RAYRAY said it best: Gasol wasn’t doing much in Memphis before landing in LA with Kobe.
When the Heat win a championship, and that won’t be this year but it will happen eventually, the king of Miami will still be D-Wayde. Because Scottie Pippen was never king in Chicago. Hall of famer’s Kevin McHale, James Worthy, and Clyde Drexler were never kings in Boston, Los Angeles, or Houston. It was always Bird, Magic, Hakeem, and of course Jordan in Chicago and presently, Kobe in LA.
LeBron has mad skills. There is definitely no argument against that. But he never was and never will be, so long as he remains with the Heat under Wayde, a king.
“Witness” that…

For all the people who are upset about Lebron going to play with two guys who can match his skills and bring it every night I want to say”WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THAT”, this guy has given his all to Cleveland. He spent seven years with them, granted they brought in several players (not superstars other than a over battled Shaq) to try to win a championship but it didn’t work. When you look at next years Cleveland team they would have had the same roster with no way of bringing in another superstar to play with him because of the salary cap, you can only carry the load for so long. I look at it like this, why spend five or six more years waiting or wishing that someone would come to Cleveland and help you win. He is in the prime of his career where he still loves the game, and everyone knows that when you play a sport the ultimate goals is to win a championship that is the bottom line. Why wait until your game has slowed down or you are to old or you have lost the ability to do certain things on the court to play with a superstar core, do it NOW enjoy the game while you can because some day you will look back and say you wished you had played with those guys. Don’t tell me that some of the great hall of fame players who never won a ring wished right know today that in their prime that they would have played with another superstar like Michael Jordan. You cannot take away from what he has accomblished or what they may accomplish in the future. I’m from Chicago and I am very disappointed that we didn’t get him but so be it, life goes on. He will aways be Lebron a dominent player in the NBA, and someone we wished played for our favorite team.

Im sorry i want to get thisstraight, when people say that Kobe shouldn’t have been given as much credit as he has last two seasons for winning, Gasol probablyis one of the best big men in the L, but why is that bad. Last time i checked, MJ had one of the 30 greatest players ever along side him for every championship that he won. Pippen is way better than gasol, i’m not saying that Kobe is as good as MJ, but give the guy credit, he’s the only player in the L with 5 rings(along with D-Fish), who cares if he won it with gasol. Kobe Rox

heat vs lakers! awesome matchup.. i think gasol/kobe cancel out wade/bosh evenly.. but ronron’s gotta step up to take on lebron HAHA YEA.. andrew bynum’s gotta be good too.. and the lakers should get a premier point guard now that this has happened.. derek fisher’s sentimental value to the lakers can still be felt on the bench as a backup

Ok I agree that Lebron will never be like MJ, Bird or Magic unless he wins a championship without 2 other superstars…. I think he would fit better in Chicago with Rose,Boozer and Noah… but going to Miami..i still like Lebron but..it will be exciting to watch those three play but Lebron just took the easy way to a championship… he has no challenges ahead of him… maybe the Magic,Celtics and Lakers.. if he went to Chicago.then he would have had Heats, Lakers, Magic, Celtics,Nuggets,Thunders,Hawks and Mavs…..and personally if i was Lebron i would taken the more challenging way.. i love a good challenge.. but watever whats done is done.. have fun with Wade and Bosh, Lebron

P.S Lebron if your mentioned as the top guy in Miami now….. I will kill you lol

I used to be a huge fan of Lebron, but with the special on ESPN and the way he has come across over the past few months, I can’t stand the guy. I will now root against the Heat no matter who they play and I hope Lebron never wins a ring.

Dude..dont call yourself a fan .your just like any other stupid Cavs fan…an a$$hole… just cuz Lebron left you hate on the guy… if you truly were a fan you would support his decision… i live Toronto.. and Bosh left dont see me hating on him

People please this man made a decision. And Chris Webber is right I wouldn’t mention LeBron in the same breath as Kobe either, why? First off without Shaq Kobe couldn’t get out of the first round of the Playoffs. With Gasol he wins two. LeBron without any key player besides himself goes to the finals. When he met San Antonio there was nothing but scrubs on his team. He made that team compete he made them believe they could get there. So in my opinion yes he shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as Kobe, because he did get it done by himself, literally. Regardless if you heard of Gasol before or not the fact of the matter is Gasol was a star before playing with Kobe, just on a weak team. When LeBron met San Antonio no one on that team could even go and start somewhere else, no one. So stop the hate and let that man go and enjoy himself with his boys and try to when some titles.

You fail to mention that when Lebron made it to the ECF the east coast teams were not nearly as strong as the west coast teams. On the west you had the Spurs (healthy, younger), the Rockets (Tmac and Yao), Suns (Nash, Stoudemaire, Marion), a number one seed Dallas who lost to the undestimated but really good Warriors (Barron Davis, Matt Barnes, Josh Howard, etc. in their prime), even the nuggets had Melo and AI (although that experiment didn’t work out to well. To get to the finals LBJ faced an undermanned Wizards 1st round, The JKidd Nets, and then finally a good team, the Detroit Pistons. Top 3 in the West drastically better than top 3 in the East and the records prove it. The point is, just like how now the East coast is the more competitive division, in 2007 the West was the superior division. It was a lot easier to get to the ECF than the WCF, which is why the Cavs got dismantled by the west coast champs and would have probably lost to any of the teams 1-8 coming out of the west. I’m not discrediting Lebron for getting there, but I think its important we don’t put too much weight on him leading the entire team there bc the division was much weaker than it is today (which is why doing it alone will not work now). Comparing Lebron doing it alone and Kobe doing it alone is not fair because of the circumstances. In a tough division, for EITHER guy it was IMPOSSIBLE. Think about it, Lebron couldn’t do it in the past 2 years alone in a strong east coast division, just like back in 07 Kobe couldn’t do it with his significantly weak roster in a strong west.

why is everybody so hyped up that Big Baby LeBron chose to ride along wade and bosh? even with this so called “team supreme” there’s no guarantee that they will win next year’s championship. after all, i don’t consider bosh a superstar so it’s basically a wade-lebron partnership. remember, TEAMS win championships, not TRIOS. for the cavs, i understand why your so angry now, but it ain’t over yet. who knows, Melo might end up a cavs next season and do what bron failed to do, win a championship for cleveland. i am a bulls fan and i think with a decent 2 guard addition, we can compete with the SOUTH-BEACH-ONLY-3 (obviously not BIG 3 coz they don’t have any decent players to surround those 3). remember, we put the celtics to the limit in game 7 last year

Regardless of what people think, Lebron made the best choice for him and his family. He gave Cavs 7 good years and they should have given him much better talent and team. If you had a choice to play with Wade and Bosh, I am sure you might take it. Life goes on and we all will be watching them all and cheering for them. This just brings more money and drama to the NBA. He is a free agent and it is his choice. I do feel bad for Cleveland but Lebron made a choice now we all are waiting for the next season. Lebron is not better than Kobe. Kobe is proven player.

Its not even really about going to Miami…although he allowed this title and hyped to be placed upon him and indeed basked in it. Its about the coldness of how he proceeded to enact his decision that has irreperably tarnished his name. Remember when kobe has those court problems and the whole world was burning down around his ears? Aside from how incredible it was how he handled himself….his image finally recovered. This damage is impossible to heal. His name will always be associated with his tremendous ego and the audacity of his hour long special, while all the little kids waited to hear their hero say he would stay. Can you even guess how many kids cried and had their heart broken just because this nice guy didnt have the decency to just announce his decision immediately? Piece of trash

Larry what you said has made so much sense, and I agree 100%. I am a die hard Bulls fan and LBJ not coming to the bulls is not the end of the world for us as its seems to be in Cleveland. I do feel bad for the fans of Cleveland because all the love and support that they showed to him these 7 years, they did not deserve to be humiliated on national television the way he decided to do it. Lastly as a MJ fan who won six rings with the bulls this chump does not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Mj, and not even Kobe who still is not on MJ’s level and he has five rings. Lebron you are officially the most hated man in Cleveland and also in most of the other NBA cities. Congratulations for becoming a failure and taking the easy road instead of fighting for the ring in Cleveland you suckka; fail:) lol

Z7 – come on…stop hating on Kobe. If you are a true basketball fan, put your love for MJ on the shelf for a minute and look at Kobe’s accomlishments in the league compared to MJ’s. Kobe did not have the blessing of learning the game under Dean Smith and UNC. He came into the league pretty raw. He was immature and made some rookie mistakes, but Kobe has established himself and one of the greatest players of all time and his stats compare very favorably to MJs. In fact he got to 10,000 and 16,000 points quicker than MJ and that is was playing with people he had to share the ball with more than he does now. He’s as good as MJ was defensively and he is a better long range shooter than MJ was…Kobe will light you up anywhere over the half-court line. Oh and let’s talk about MJ’s supporting cast on his championship teams…he did not suit up with chumps: Pippen, Grant, Cartwright, King, McCray, Paxon, Rodman, Hodges, Kerr, Harper, Kukoc, Tucker, Longley, Williams, Perdue and Armstrong. MJ was clearly the BMOC but he definitely did not do it alone. The other thing you need to know about Kobe is that the first championship he won with Shaq, it was clearly Shaq’s team. The second ring, Kobe’s overall contribution was a lot closer to Shaq’s. The third ring, Kobe was the most productive person on the team and they shared leadership. Since then it has clearly been Kobe’s team just as MJ was the man on his championship teams. Check out the teams’ rosters and stats during their respective championships…you’ll see things a little differently. If Kobe gets a 6th ring it is definitely a new conversation and if he gets a 7th ring, he goes to the top of the era of players from the 80’s to present. Bill Russell is still the GOAT!!!! He’s got 11 rings to prove it and he did not earn them sitting on the bench as a reserve in the twilight of his career…

People are gettint over excited about nothing. All this comparsion to Jordan he didn’t ask for that. Why can’t a person be themself. The guy come in the league at a young age tell me who was his mentor. Kobe had the support have Magic, Kareem and other Laker greats to mentor him.Who did LeBron have in Cleveland Craig Elho come on. He tried to do it on his own for seven years. It’s bad when Jamison is your robin. Did Dan do enough to help him win a champship in cleveland or did he just wanted to make money. And the so called legend webber, barkley and miller do they have rings. What happen to chris webber and the kings that team should have won a ring but didn’t. And Charles Barkley should critizie at the end of his career he join the houston rockets with the dream and clyde to win a ring he don’t try on his own. now reggie is a totally different story. One thing i do agree on is the way it was done no tatic what so ever. That statement could have took 15 minutes. Or he could have called Dan and said thanks for giving me a chance but i going in a new direction.

Calvin everyone knows that Charles did not win a ring, but the reason he is well respected is that he did not give up and tried hard to win. There was this one guy in the way at the time and if name is Micheal, but when Charles left for houston he was not in the prime of his career like the so called King is. King my a** now we know who the king is in Miami and it ain’t Lebron, so now if he wins one or multiple rings with those guys his legacy is tarnished. Why the hell were people calling him the king anyway he has not won anything on his own (championships) more like the run away King.:o

barkley did say that when they were in houston the three of them were already “washed-up”..bron is not in that category yet, i mean being already washed-up.. he’s not supposed to be in a position of desperation yet, not yet Malone when the mailman joined the lakers or Payton when he joined Miami… I mean, when barkley, malone, payton, and the likes of them left their beloved respective teams for good, they were already in a washed-up state desperate to get a ring…bron is not in the same page… 25 YEARS OLD!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! Well, he’s not that mature it would seem.. no “king” should be a coward, but even bron have to give-up being a “king” just to get a ring…a sacrifice only honored in the halls of cowardice but not in the halls of nobility.. But whatever will happen from this point on, I hope history will absolve the great Lebron James or else he’ll only be remembered for what he did to ohio the moment he said goodbye..

I agree with “calvin” (above-mentioned). I agree with Lebron (however I’m not one of his fans). I disagree with Dan Gilbrat (Ohh, yes…Gil-“brat”). On Jordan: Before the Chicago Bulls won their first championship in 1991. They were getting their “kicking in by the Chuck Daly (R.I.P.) led Detroit Pistons. Doug Collins ran a maniacal offense in which Jordan shot all the shots and everyone watched, included his teams. In the 1990-1991 season, Phil Jackson became the head coach…instituted the Tex Winter designed “Triangle Offense”…and the rest is history. However IF Phil never coached Chicago, Jordan may have left Chicago or demanded a trade, who knows. (Read Jordan Rules by Sam Smith)

It took Jordan about 6 or 7 NBA season to reach the NBA title. This was Lebron’s 7th season. If your really watched that 2010 Eastern Conference Finals game, Cleveland vs. Boston, you’ll notice that Lebron grabbed 19 rebounds…over 20 points…over 5 assists….and lost. The other Cleveland teammates missed almost all their “wide open” shcts. IF I’M LEBRON JAMES, AND I GRAB ALL THE REBOUNDS, AND I’M A SMALL FORWARD, AND I DISH ALL THE ASSISTS, AND I SCORE ALL THE POINTS, AND I STILL LOSE – WHY SHOULD I STAY. And on top of that Lebron’s highly paid teammates’ under-performed (i.e. Shaq, Jamison, Varejo, West, and etc.) in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals. During the off-season, the head coach is fired, Mike Brown…Cavs management pursues a collegiate coach (Izzo) and gets rejected…and Cavs GM, Danny Ferry, quits. AND during the most anticipated Free Agency in NBA history, Cavs failed to sign zero (i.e. nada or none or non) new players to assist Lebron James in winning a NBA title. Dang! Jordan had Pippen. Russell had Cousy. Ojawawon (yes I misspelled it) had Drexler. But Dan Gibrat gives Lebron, Mo Williams.

Soooo! The majority owner Dan Gilbert berates Lebron for pursuing a multiple champions. Forget that Lebron played 7 seasons in Cleveland…increased tickets sells…increased merchandizing of Cleveland apparel…made it cool to rock a retro Cavs jersey. Noooo! Dan Gilbert spits on Lebron and shows other NBA players how they should not play for Cleveland either. Good work Dan Gilbrat.

Preach brother…I’m drinking the Kool-Aid. I could not have said it better although I have made similar posts on this subject. Cavs don’t have a championship mentatality organization. Wanna win multiple championships, take notes from the Lakers and Celtics; they are head and shoulders above the rest of the NBA franchises. Cuban is a great owner; he loves the game; is a good marketer; puts on a great show; but he does not know how to put together a championship roster and staff. He’s been close, but he’s fallen back in line with the rest of the also rans in the Western Conference. Watch out for OKC, they are building something special there. In three years, it could be OKC and Miami in the FINALS if Riles can get some quality players to help his “Big 3”.

I pity you guys 😛 Those people that usually whine are called losers. Technically he didnt do anything wrong. Its just the way it is. He chose what you called “easy way out” is just biased. It isnt a sure thing miami will win next season, but they have a high chances. Stop being a cry baby and move on. Not a miami nor a cavs fan here. Im an NBA fan.

Good comment Vashy. Keep in mind that the top teams in the East all just got better through trades, signings and such. (I say this as a Western Conference fan, and Laker Fan for Life). These guys will have to learn how to win together for a couple of years before they are ready to contend for the title. They don’t even have a full roster. Are they going to play all 80+ games with just three extremely talented players and hold up against ALL the talent in the East. Tell these other cats they need to put the bong down and study the game. It’s more complicated than just have 2 or 3 great players.

I mean say if he would have been fit in the cle playoffs and if he would have stepped his game up (what i am certainly sure that he can still improve) god knows may that kid would have won the trophy this year.. i mean their D was ace last year. make lebron taking his game to the next level when most needed and they may taken the lakers in game 7, but then all this ellbow stuff is going on and after that free agency he looked like he hasn’t reached the playoffs at all with the cavs… If they could have pulled something out and could have got at least a decent player added to the roster, i am not asking something outrageous i am saying decent and may get rid of that oneal guy.. he would have had a realistic chance this year. and as the winning type he is and the worker he is he would have progressed in the offseason. and then if he would have won the title he would be the man! THE MAN i mean maybe it is good that the philosophy may steps away from that one dominant super player in every team. thats the way it is going down in europe for quite a while. when you look at albert sweitzer tournaments or in general. you wont get many european teams that have the same player of the game every win. they have about 3or 4 guys nearly averaging the same when it comes to best scorers. Which is good somehow. But then you have to change the slogan “where amazing happens” cause you cant play that pathetic clips anymore about that one guy changing everything with his last shot… maybe to where teamplay happens, but we first have to see if just mashing three top guys together equals good teamplay…..
And i still was hoping this is only an european sports, i mean it is all about the team, but bball is still also something about that great moments….

dont blame Lebron for the playoffs.. blame Mo Williams, Shaq and Antawn Jamison.. Mo Williams never showed up when it got tough..Shaq is old and just takes up space..and Jamison had a hard time with KG

i read an article that someone showed me yesterday and its all about how the past two months of Wade-Bosh-James drama has already been planned out and they knew where they were going all along: Miami. it said they made a pact to play together in the NBA after having such good times at the Olympics and that makes them all (considering I used to think Wade was pretty down to earth) Public Enemy #1! Lebron is just running cuz he’s scared he won’t win and he’s never going to…he and his two new best friends are nothing but the NBA’s divas now and i doubt they’ll mesh well

Dunno about you guys but this stuff is just dragging on and on, Its his choice! Period. For cavs, go and prove you can win without him. For cavs fan… well its fair to be disappointed. Life must move on. So? Blame the guy for leaving and wanting a championship ring? Pls. name one player in the NBA that doesnt want to win a title.

Vashy…name one NBA legend that left at 25 or the prime of his career to piggy back on two other allstars for a ring in the magnitude of Lebron that “was” compared the MJ himself.
Peope here are like rocks!

BrandonID… Are you serious with your comment??? All the other greats did not leave their teams because they all had talent around them. And not just any talent, not just all-star talent, but HALL OF FAME talent. So it doesn’t matter if he left or if they came. What matters is now he has great talent around him, just like all of the other “great” players in the history of basketball. So you’re the one kinda sounding like a rock.

Well Bottom line is that in my opinion i think lebron knew when he choose to go to miami that he gave up being talked of being the greatest player in the nba why because he went to play with dwayne wade in miami.

Lebron took the easy path (to the south beach), choosing instead to play with two superstars than to do it his way and cement his legacy- like what MJ, Kobe, Magic, and Bird did… Like what they said…”He woke up yesterday morning as Michael Jordan, he slept last night as Scottie Pippen”. He is now Scottie to Wade in Miami-Wade County.

I think he is a coward and a quitter. I really do. I saw him quit even in the championship series when the Spurs swept the Cavs years ago. I gave him the benefit of the doubt- yeah yeah he was young. But then…it was glaring how he quit in the series versus the Boston Celtics. He did not compete. He appeared distracted and uninterested, often glaring at Cleveland’s coaches. I’ll say it again, he did not complete – well not like how Kobe did it with swagger, not how Steve Nash and Manu Ginobilli did it with broken noses, not how Bynum helped the Lakers win the championship with one knee, now how Michael Jordan took last shots to win championships and pass on to open teammates to win some more…

You see great players and champions took it upon themselves…they sacrificed, fought, lost, won and gave it their all to win the ring. The self proclaimed king (without a ring) quit and abdicated his throne, abandoned his hometown and took the easy way. Does this guarantee him the dynasty like what Riley has sold him? Of course not, that remains to be seen. Remember what happen to the star studded Lakers with Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton? How they lost to assembled role players of the Detroit Pistons.

James needs to grow up and be a man. The way he is doing now—that’s not how legends do it. Lebron took the easy path (to the south beach), choosing instead to play with two superstars than to do it his way and cement his legacy- like what MJ, Kobe, Magic, and Bird did… Like what they said…”He woke up yesterday morning as Michael Jordan, he slept last night as Scottie Pippen”. He is now Scottie to Wade in Miami-Wade County.

I think he is a coward and a quitter. I really do. I saw him quit even in the championship series when the Spurs swept the Cavs years ago. I gave him the benefit of the doubt- yeah yeah he was young. But then…it was glaring how he quit in the series versus Boston Celtics. He did not compete. He appeared distracted and uninterested, often glaring at Cleveland’s coaches. I’ll say it again, he did not complete – well not like how Kobe did it with swagger, not how Steve Nash and Manu Ginobilli did it with broken noses, not how Bynum helped the Lakers win the championship with one knee, now how Michael Jordan took last shots to win championships and pass on to open teammates to win some more…

You see great players and champions took it upon themselves…they sacrificed, fought, lost, won and gave it their all to win the ring. The self proclaimed king without a ring quit and abdicated his throne, abandoned his hometown and took the easy way. Does this guarantee him the dynasty like what Riley has sold him? Of course not, that remains to be seen. Remember what happen to the star studded Lakers with Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton? How they lost to assembled role players of the Detroit Pistons.

James needs to grow up and be a man. The way he is doing now—that’s not how legends do it.

Get your facts straight Glenn. The Lakers would have waltzed to the Championship with Malone and Payton on that team, but injuries ruined the party. They totally dominated the West and would have dominated the playoffs if they had been healthy…keep it real bro…I’m just saying…

Once again I will say it is organized Chaos I don’t want to see two MVP players playing for the same team. They somehow just took the fun out of Basketball its almost like now when the world watch they will say ok Miami will win it hands down. I would of loved for Lebron to play for a team as NY knicks or Chicago or remain in Cleveland and earn a title. Going to Miami eliminated his chance of being compared to Michael Jordan. All of the many greats that I know that have played the sport rode it out to the end and earned their hall of fame right and status. For him to compare himself Bosh and Wade to Boston big three is ridiculous. My level of the NBA and ESPN for all the hype and that one hour special they placed into this dropped significantly….

It’s amazing the hate getting spewed at lebron for his decision. When he is one of the few players giving up money to chase a ring. Also Cwebb not mention him in the same breath as MJ Im cool with, But Kobe I am tired of hearing that. Kobe had Shaq for 3 of them and did we forget He has had Gasol for the last 2. Last time I checked people we’re saying Gasol was the top big men in the league. So Kobe needed Gasol to get the last 2. end of story, Give LBJ credit he said it wasnt about the money its about championships and he was telling the truth. He took less money to chase a championship.As far as legacy in the end all people will remember you by the championships you have won. Given that Lebron when is all said and done will be remembered as one of the best in the game. On and as far as quitting on their team, it’s amazing how quick we forget Kobe did the same thing a couple of years ago in Phoenix in the playoffs and then started screaming trade afterwards. It takes more than one to win a championship. What made us forget about that? Oh yeah Kobe got Gasol and won a couple championships. nuff said

Kobe is a Choker..is cried like baby until Jerry West Gave Gasol to Lakers as a free gift..for who Kwame Brown..Come on that was all set up by Lakers and sucbag Jerry West..Kobe is not a True Leader..is does have rings..but he needed ALOT of help..They potentially have 4 to 5 all start on their team..LeBran carried Cav to finals in his second year..dont forget that..ALl by himself….Kobe is just ridding others coattaill…just like Phil Jackson..let me see him win a ring with a loosing team instead of teams with Jordan, Shaq….Heat will crush Lakers….and give the old Phil Jack a terrible retirement…

They got Pau’s Brother in the process among other player’s. His bro is a legit 15pts, 10reb player with a high basketball IQ! They traded for him Colts! Unlike LBJ here saying everything right so that he can’ be traded to another team he didn’t like! Any person that knows the history behind the Magic, Bird, and Jordan era knows that Lebron just mad a totall joke of himself!

STAYED WITH LA???? HAHAHA HE WANTED OUT OF LA 3 SEAONS AGO!!! dun get me wrong im a huge kobe fan, it’s just that the greats wanted winning, lebron felt he spent seven long years in cleverland and he doesn’t see cleverland management are trying hard enough (or has the ability) to build a championshtip team around him. Last two seasons the cavs were the best team in the regular season because lebron was spectualar, all the cav games i watched was him talking the ball at the top of the key going 1 on 5 and he made it work.

@ indy. the only time L.A. missed a playoff appearance was on the 05 season. but they were above 500 on a very competitive western conference. he was with a new and unfamiliar line-up in odom butler and grant. The next season however, he rebounded by giving L.A. the best record until losing bynum. Which gave them a chance to trade for gasol. get it.

@unbias: shut up with that nonsense. how many people even heard of Pau Gasol b4 he came to the Lakers? Kobe just has that about him that he makes those around him better, especially being the star that he is, of course the spotlight is going to automatically be on Kobe and n e player that plays with him ie: ariza, where is he now? just a scrub that tried to get greedy, tried to make a name for himself, and now he fell off. Kobe made Gasol what he is because Gasol sees the drive and dedication Kobe has & sees the guy always practicing and that in turn makes Gasol and the rest of the Lakers wanna do more, and try harder. Kobe took that team to the championship. how many buzzer beaters did he hit? had they lost all those games their record wouldnt have been as good and they lose home court advantage and could have possibly lost to the C’s. Your hate for the Lakers and especially Kobe is evident in your bias comments, what irony to your unbias name lol

good job ray. kobe won the last two titles and hit more gaming winning shots with a broken finger than anyone in nba history. lets try breaking lebron’s finger today ad lets see how he does this season. go LA!

im talkn about uoykcuf’s comment!! not u rayray, any1 who knows basketball new who pau was b4 the lakers. and he is arguably the best big n the league now. when kobe kept losin n the playoffs he was talkn trade me, the lakers got him pau….cleveland never got lebron sum1 to really help, look at the stats weirdo

ey dew. they got gasol after bynum feell. get it?? AFTER BYNUM FELL. they were on one of their best franchise starts and bynum wat about to get to the allstar weekend. Im not saying LA would have been good without gasol but we’re talking about kobe’s importance right? So before you start checking out facts..try checking out your own 1st.

The difference my friend is the Lakers are Kobes team!! When he had no help he didnt bolt to another city to try to win a ring on another great players coat tail. He stuck it out in LA until the players he had on his team developed. You say he had no help when they were losing to Phoenix in the playoffs but it was the same team we have now with Gasol and D Fish being the exceptions. One more thing, Gasol is arguably the best big man in the league now. But let me ask you this, Did anyone in the World call him that before he played with Kobe?? Nope!! Kobes leadership made Gasol into a better player!! & only now for the past 2 years have we made the argument that he is one of the best because when he was in Memphis nobody, and I mean nobody was saying he was the best big man in the league!! Kobe never rode anyones **** to get a ring!! He won with the team that drafted him and let them build a better team around him and thats the difference. Lebron James just sold his soul!!

@batez
the hornets drafted kobe right?
in exchange for divac and jones?

basketball is a team sport, so whether you are mj, bird, magic,russel,wilt,west, olajuwon or any of the nba greats, or you are mjbenga, josh powel and any of the 13th to 15th bench players.
A TEAM wins the Championship.

What separates (MJ to Pippen, BIRD to McHale, SHAQ to Kobe, KOBE to Gasol, DUNCAN to Parker, THOMAS to Dumars)
is that you could built a team around them they are TRUE FRANCHISE PLAYERS.
their NAMES alone will mean LARGE chunks of DOUGH.
Unsuccessfull Players that you could build a team around that did not have the RING includes
BARKLEY, STOCHTO-MALONE, PATRICK EWING
(did had the RING but not as the MAiN-MAN) Includes David Robinson, Kevin Garnnet, Gary Payton
(players that may never have one but i wish could have even as part of the MAIN-MAN)
Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill

the debate here is that James settled to be like Pippen for MJ, Dumars-Thomas, Gasol for Kobe, Parkrer for Duncan
where he could be the other way around. Where he could have been the CHAMPION FRANCHISE PLAYER of the NBA CHAMPION TEAM.

coz no matter what, MIAMI is going to be Wades Team, even if he becomes FINALS MVP like DUMARS and PARKER. THOMAS and DUNCAN were still the CHAMPION TEAMS FRANCHASE PLAYER.
that is if they will pass the eastern play-off second round agaist the proven CELTICS and MAGIC and the Resurging BULLS.

No one thought that Pau was the top big man in the League until he got to the Lakers and teamed up with Kobe and could only make one Allstar appearance by himself. It’s called the triangle system and Kobe helped bring Pau’s game to new heights. It’s called one superstar getting help from a proven good player in Pau that “became” a proven great player in the best system ever! Nothing compared to 3 not 2 but 3 proven “allstars” that just decided to form a yet to be seen dynasty out of trickery and disloyalty.

Indycolts, you just made yourself sound so dumb. Phil Jackson came to a team that already had Jordan that didn’t win a title and turned them into a champioship team. Jordan couldn’t have won without Pippen plain and simple. Pull your head out of your ass and stop sucking Lebron’s pee pee.

how many ppl was talkin bout pau gasol before he went to the lakers..how many times did he make the all-star team…how many times did he make the nba all team before joinin the lakers..THank you..kobe made his game dat much better…stop being a Kobe hater…

hay kobe hater. befors gasol became a laker the lakers had the best record in the west. kobe did have shaq but shaq needed kobe. lets go back to there first champinoship shaq fouls out who killed reggie miller with the clincher shots kobe. remember when they needed a big shot at the end of the game who will shot it shaq lol or kobe they could never give the ball to shaq because they would just foul him. another game if you remember lakers were down like 32 points against the mavs. look it up kobe 9 for9 in the 4 quarter anouther game 81 points come on r u kidding me they were down so many points who brought them back kobe.

yeah mj had pippen also who was on the 50 greatest player of all time.and mj didn’t win until pippen showed up let’s not forget so stop comparing who was with who let’s talk about who led those teams to a championship with their leadership, talent and most important competitiveness.

LOL @ Mchale’s comment but let’s get real. I like Kobe but people gave too much props to Kobe winning alone. OMFG! He HAD help, he had gasol, ron, fish, ariza, odom and bynum to win the last two. Remember when he kept getting kicked by the suns in the playoffs? Then he had NO help. Can you imagine those lakers rosters to compete with Celtics in this year finals? I seriously am not too fond of the “KING” but why is ppl hating on lebron joining the heat? To get a better chance to win a ring is that bad? Then how about the celtics? KG bolted the wolves to get a chance to get a ring is okay? The thing here is I like the idea of joining a better team but not the way he ditch Cavs. Also, stop those idiotic comparsions, Lebron is never Kobe, Kobe is never Mike, Mike is never Doc. Got it?

Those roll players are possibel only when you dont have three idiots with max contracts taking up the whole pay roll.
Sure Kobe had help but most of those guys have played and bled with Kobe for years even when they were losing in western semifinal bouts. It’s not like everyone just went to Kobe and assembled itself. All were old pieces or legit trades. So give props to the organization. Kobe wants to be great plain and simple. Lebron doesn’t have the stomach for it. Everything so far in his career has been given the the real “Big Baby” so he might as well keep rollin with it!

Excuse me why would you call three individuals idiots who have worked hard all there lives, and have put themsleves in a position to form a potential dynasty??? They look like THREE WISE MEN to me. And most of those guys have not bled with kobe for years. Pau & Ariza came the same year, Artest just came last year, & Bynum is just now getting good. The only one who has been through it all is Fisher. And Phil too. And do you not remember kobe demanding to be traded & threatning to leave the team if the Lakers did not bring help for him??? So what did the Lakers do? They brought him Pau. Who did the Cavs bring Lebron?… Jamison. I hope that you would agree those two don’t stack up equally. So why would Lebron risk the possibility of never winning on an organization that had 7 YEARS to prove that they can bring talent in to help Lebron??? Tell me that.

I think you missed the point…Kobe did have help but he was the “Man”. That is D Wades team and hes already done it as the “man”. And yes KG did bolt to the celtics but he tried all those years being the man. Like Barkley said if ur in ur latter stages of ur career and havent won it then u join the elite. It just seemed like Lebron took the easy route and doesnt want all that pressure anymore. I think that why all the hate is going around

maybe i am missing it… define “help”?… every where i go I read/hear that Kobe had “help’ as if to say bron didnt have “help”… his teams mates helped he win the most game in the NBA the past 2 years… his help helped him win consecutive MVP’s the past two years… they helped him get to the playoffs past few years… sooo they were good enough… yet the entire CAVS team and organization choked when it came to winning it all with the help that was good enough to win it all… poor coaching and poor execution at the most inoportune time is what cost them… bron is just as much to blame as the other teammates and coaching staf… stop making excuses for bron… DAMN!!!!

7 YEARS is a lot of years in the league. So Lebron did try to win as the man. DWADE might have been the man on his team, but without Shaq he would not have one. Lebron was one superstar on his team; one superstar has never one a championship alone. And we are complaing about two superstars being on a team??? I really don’t consider Bosh a superstar yet, but he may become one. And what Charles said about leaving at a later point in your career is a bunch of bull. Thats a mistake that he made with his career, and it seems like he wants others to make the same mistake (misery enjoys company). Kevin Garnett already admitted he wishes that he would have joined forces sooner. Now that’s a real man telling it like is.

Honestly i dont like lebron, way before this but really if its all about the rings he only had 3/4 choices la, yeah right, boston not needed, mia and chi. He chose mia over chi which i think he had a better chance with chi and he would be the MAN. yes kobe treatened to leave cause he wanted help. BUT KOBE STAYED

You’re an idiot. Lebron ruined his legacy with this move. He is still young and had a chance to win in cleveland. Kobe has had help to win his last two titles, but so did Jordan…Doesn’t anyone remember Pippen and Rodman? Kobe is the only player that can be mentioned in the same breath as Jordan from now on. Chris Webber is right on that…

I have to agree somewhat with the posts by F_Lebron.com and COMEonMAN. However, I think you guys are both overlooking a couple of important details. I don’t know how old you are, but if you look at your NBA Championship teams dating back as far as you want to go, you will see that winning the Championship takes a team…that means help…not just any help, but quality help. If we focus on recent history, MJ didn’t win until Scottie came, but not just Scottie, those Bulls teams were solid; they weren’t just sneakers on the floor to make a pass or give a foul. Magic and Kareem don’t win 5 rings in the 80’s without Worthy, Wilkes, Scott, Cooper, A.C. Green, Rambis, McAdoo and Thompson. Bird doesn’t win without McHale, Johnson, Parrish, Walton, Carr, Ainge, et.al. I could go on but you get the point. In his fourth year in the league, LeBron took the Cavs to the Championship practically by himself and got swept by a team of great players. LeBron played incredible that year but he had average help. The reason the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Spurs, and Pistons had dynasties (Lakers and Celtics being the greatest of them all) is because the organization and management have championship mentalities. When Magic was unhappy playing for Westhead, Dr. Buss fired Westhead 11 games into the season and made Riley the coach after Jerry West declined the head coaching position and they won the Championship that year. When Kobe went public about wanting to be traded if the Lakers did not bring in quality players who wanted to play the right way, Dr. Buss and his management team made deals and brought in excellent talent to help Kobe lead a team back to the championship. That is why the Lakers have 16 (10 in LA). You don’t bring in Shaq when he’s on his way down or Jamison who can’t play defense and expect LeBron to lead them to the championship against the talent in the Eastern Conference and the Kobe led Lakers from the West. Give me a break…LeBron would have had success in Chicago quickerk, but I think in three years, he and his friends will be in position to win a ring for the Heat; however, they need to put some good players around those guys or the elite teams in the East will eat them alive. The good news is they have Pat Riley in the front office (Laker pedigree) and he knows how to build a team that can win multiple championships and he has an owner who trusts him. That was not the situation in Cleveland. They don’t have the “know how” and they have the desire, but it takes more than that. The other big problem they have is Cleveland is not a destination city and it will be hard to get great talent to want to play there for an extended period of time. LeBron is from the area so it worked for him, but they could not get him the right help. They had 7 years to get it right and they did nothing in the last 3 years to improve the team to a championship winning level. It can be done. Boston did it two years ago. Oklahoma City is doing it. Don’t be surprised if it’s OKC and Miami in the FINALS in three years. Until then, the road to the NBA Championship must travel through LA and the Kobe Bryant led Lakers. It is going to be fun to watch…in the words of TO, “Get your popcorn and beer ready!”

Even with the players kobe had it was still considered as kobes team..and as kobe went the lakers did too…Im tired of hearin dis thing about lebron not having a team..The cavs were number 1 in the NBA for two straight seasons..its for your superstar to elevate the teams play in the playoff..Lebron Plays around too much,,when it comes to the playoff do u see kobe jokin around..NO..put blame on lebron here.And kevin garnett did not leave the twolves he was traded, please remember that..and he could not carry that team by himslef anymore..lebron still can hes only 25 years of age..he can win 4 rings in miami..but by him just wining one in cleavland would have made him a legend wit a statue outside of the quicken loan area..

the sad thing here is that he left too early..when the Celtic’s Big 3 came together they were past their prime..but Bosh, Wade and James all below 30? i think its too early for them to start panicking..

Well if you think it’s too early, then don’t watch them play together until they’re all 32. Miss out on all the beautiful basketball that they’re going to show us. I bet you’re not going to do that though. Bet you’re going to be sitting at home watching every one of their games that come on television boiling mad at the ability they were given play a game that you wish you could play and do the things they do.

hay pal i am a laker fan and if you don’t remember let me refresh your memory. before gasol became a laker. the lakers had the best record in the west with bynam . it,s not the lakers folt that memphis gave us gasol for kwame brown lol kobe is the best player in the world. on paper the cavs had a better team than the lakers. bynam was injered all year he was not 100% lets look at the rosters point gards derek fisher mo willams mo willams better. shooting gards kode ok. forwards james ok. pau gosol antwan jamason by the numbers jamason average more points than gasol and rebounds even. centers bynum shaq you got to give it to shaq. cavs also had a better bench and they had the best record for the past 2 years. james gave up in game 5 or six i don;t remember. he did not even try to win. kobe would never done that. i hope kobe is healthy because he is coming for miami. james took the easy way out. charls barkly said kobe had all this help thats bull because james had a better team on paper look at the records. whan they got jamason they had the best teamin the nba look at the records barkley is a kobe hater and its ok theres alot of haters out there. by the way kobe had 6 game winners if he didn’t do that they will not have won the west. we are going to have a healthy kobe. miami be careful what you wish for.

we are talking about his legacy here cuz he was self proclaim king, alot of poeple says he’s the best player in the world but could’nt carry a team with average teammates. yeah kobe had help but kobe was the guy in l.a meaning th success and failure of the lakers go throug him regardless whos playing alongsde him. lbj sure will win a championship but just like he said on that welcome celebration, it will be easy. what’s that tell u about the KING.

Lebron did not say winning the championship would be easy. All of them actually said the oppossite many times. Please start listening, and stop just hearing what you want to hear. He said their practices will be hard and intense, but going out and PLAYING TOGETHER would be the easy part.

their not giving kobe all those props to kobe for no reason. try counting all of kobe’s game winning shots from day 1, and counting and counting.. and oh he’ll be adding a dozen or more so in the next 3 yrs with a “unrepairable” injured finger. u like that??

Chris Webber is the best, he is the most realistic.Never say that guy who quitted and michael jordan again in the same sentece is absolutley right.This is too much let wait and watch and see how this miami works.I prefer to be a guy with no ring but to have play against the best example:karl malone.

Karl malone ditched utah in his last year(why not is was his last year) but he is the only player to score more than 30,000 to only one team.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5ri7t03Iss&feature=related see this fan video how close jordan and lebron were.Too bad NBA has completely died today.A sad week in the history of America basketball.

Well said guys..This guy has a tattoo that says “the chosen one” on his back. Then turns around and chooses and easier way to get a title for himself. He’s the self-proclaimed “King”. What kind of king would abandon his kingdom to chase his own happiness. We were all witnesses to how we were fooled for seven years. He didn’t deserve all the attention and accolades that cleveland bestowed on him for all those years. I hope the hype ends now, ’cause all he is right now is a part of a combo out to win a championship. So no more Kobe and Lebron comparisons. He’ll never be mentioned in the same breath as the previous greats because he gave up the long road to take a short cut to the promise land.

Look at what Lebron has contributed to the organization for the past years and reflect pls.. He has given Cavs 7 full years of his youth and he can have a choice to stay or not to stay.Besides, if you all think that he gave up during a championship last year, you are all darn wrong.Look at Lebrong ame winner last year against the magic.The boss of cavs at that time praised him and now he’s saying that Lebron gave up.That’s just immature for a leader, showing why cavs is now going downhill to a D-graded team

if you were in LBJ shoes would you still return to an organization that after what you have done in the past 7 years of your life they still consider you as the main villain..the cavaliers did not make LBJ famous…it’s LBJ puts the cavs on the NBA market ..can’t they just thank him and wish him luck

Let me ask you something… Who’s happiness should he be chasing if not his own??? This man is living his life and making his dicisons the same way any other rational grown up would. With his best interest in mind, and his family & friends well being also. Today we throw around the word love so freely that it really lost it’s meaning in some instances. The fans of Cleveland never did love Lebron James, they merely admired the man’s talents and ability to give them a show. If they did love him, they would not have boo’d him after game five in the Celtic’s series. I promise you his mother was not booing him, I promise you his friends and family he grew up with were not booing him. So why would Lebron James make a personal decision on his future and legacy on what he thinks will make a group of people who have boo’d him happy??? Tell me that. And It’s sad that you feel you qualify to judge someone’s greatness. What have you done thats’s great? You know nothing about what it takes to make it to the ‘Promise Land’, so how can you judge someone’s journey there? Lebron, DWADE, & Bosh have worked hard all their life, and they are going to continue to work even harder, or else they will never reach their goal. Please open your eyes & stop being jealous of other’s abilities.

wow. how is going to a team with a better player on it mean he fooled anybody? my god, you guys are making sound like he did something wrong in this scenario.l granted, the one hour special was not needed, but if you think the years of development lbj had as a player in ohio was wasted, think again. Cleveland never mattered to anyone for a long time but he changed that. even when he leaves there will still be much focus on that area and how they cope. You guys need to look at the way the organixation and many fans are acting at him leaving. they are showing their true colors IMO. I am reminded how these ungrateful fans booed off the team at the end of thier playoff run, as if there was some magical culture of winning in place before lebron showed up.

And enough about this lebron shouldn’t be in comparisons argument. I seriously think that if after all the time he had to think about it, and hearing people cry about it on television, internet, etc that if he still went to miami it is clear that he puts winning over personal achievement. I see nothing wrong with that. What, you think he should be more concerned with winning another MVP when he has two, or a scoring champion and still lose to the celtics in the playoffs? Ask Allen Iverson what he would perfer. Ask Kevin Garnett if he’d rather win a few MVPs in Minnesota over going to the Celtics with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen there and winning a championship. BTW,

You guys make it sound like Lebron is the villian when it just a business, and all that the cavs organization is doing now is playing on the emotions of its fanbase to still watch thier team play. Also keep in mind that they could trade lebron too in 4 years if he stayed in Ohio givin the right situation, and they would justify that too I bet.

this isn’t givin up by a long shot. he still is gonna work hard, the championship isn’t garenteed by any means. And is Scottie Pippen can be considered one of the top 50 greatest players of all time, then certainly lebron can be considered that level of Kobe’s, and its not like he’s 31 guys he has a long career ahead still.

i agree with Mr.Kevin Mchale, i honestly thought that LBJ would be best fit with CHICAGO,. and NBA would have been more exciting and more competitive! Having LBJ added to MIAMI is an overkill,. they would still be a strong contender for the championship ring without LBJ,. having wade and bosh is about enough, just add some role players and shooters to their team and they could be facing LBJ in chicago, i personally like D.wade he’s work ethic,. and its just not right having LBJ alongside with him,. I believe that MIAMI would have difficulties during crunch time on their CLOSE GAMES,. all of those three wants the ball on their hands,. it would be hard for them to decide, but ofcourse it’s D.wade’s team so most likely he’ll be the one handling it,. and i don’t think Bosh and LBJ could leave with that,. for me MIAMI could be better of having R.Gay instead of LBJ,if only he didn’t resinged with his team,. i think they would have blend better,. PG. M.chalmers SG D.wade SF R.gay PF C.bosh C B.Haywood,. vs PG D.rose SG_ SF LBJ PF C.boozer C J.noah,. o the other hand i feel sorry for A.Stadoumire,. tsk.tsk.tsk. turns out to be the dumbest move of his career,. he would have a better chance staying at home in phoenix!!! or if better yet asked to be traded to OKLAHOMa to team-up with K.durant.

Not to be rude sir, but either you don’t watch basketball at all, or you’re not very good at watching it. Your comment does not make much sense. You made the statement that Lebron, DWADE, & Bosh will not work because all of those three want the ball in their hands. There is absolutely no truth to that statement. How many times has Lebron, & Bosh been scolded for beeing TOO passive, and passing the ball to their teammates in CRUNCH TIME situations? The answer is TOO MANY TIMES. So sorry sir, find another reason to hate on the “THREE WISE MEN”.

so that makes D-Wade the onyl bail out shooter for the 3 kings…Bosh and LeBron will be the decoy…what a play…or better if the three will be the decoy and somebody else will do it…they have already proven their names on the court why not share it with others..its still their win anyway

in its place I did the same thing to Lebron chosen because it is a title and that’s normal. To keep the leaders of Cleveland had to recruit two or three good players to support it. So leave it to chance to flourish Lebrn a bit, he wants to win something and he has a real chance to relay his dream.